My children are both total chatterboxes.
Which, you know, is all sorts of CUTE until the moment when I am trying to have a conversation with another adult, whether it is a friend or the elderly man who comes to service the boiler.
Then, the chatty-ness is somewhat less cute, when either one – or sometimes both of them – stand next to me and keep repeating (yelling, even): “Mam, Mam, Mam, Mam, Mam…” until I eventually just give up and turn my attention away from the conversation I am having and onto them.
Telling them to wait has also proven only moderately successful, and can at certain times lead to either tantrums (3-year-old) or tears (6-year-old), all depending.
But then as luck would have it, I came across this AH-MAZING advice on Australian mummy-blog An Everyday Story:
“I was chatting with a friend one day when her 3-year-old son wanted to say something. Instead of interrupting, though, he simply placed his hand on her wrist and waited. My friend placed her hand over his to acknowledge him, and we continued chatting.
After she had finished what she was saying, she turned to him. I was in awe! So simple. So gentle. So respectful of both the child and the adult. Her son only needed to wait a few seconds for my friend to finish her sentence. Then she gave him her complete attention.”
Wow, it sounded almost too good to be true, right? I admit I doubted its effectiveness at first, much as I LOVED the idea of how respectful the gesture was, both to your child and the person you are talking to. But it was too good a tip not to try out, anything to bring an end to the current status of “Wait. Wait. Hang on. Wait. Wait. Hang on.”
But guess what, we have tried it a few times now, and my children (OK, maybe mostly my 5-year-old!) seem to totally get the concept, and feel like I SEE her even though I am mid- conversation with someone else. It’s almost like a special little code, that only we know is going on.
Try it – I bet you’ll be as positively surprised as I was!
Do YOU have any good ways of getting your children to listen or not interrupt when you are speaking to other adults?
