Listen! I hear something.

I play a game with David that I remember my mom playing with us when we were little and our attention spans were nonexistent. Here’s how the game works. If you’re trying to do something that requires your little person to be still, like putting shoes and coats on or when you’re buckling the seat belts, then you say in a very excited voice, “Listen! I hear something. Do you hear that?”

At this point some kids will stop and ask you what you hear. Some kids will keep struggling so you move to phase two. Phase two is when you bring their favorite thing into the game. In David’s case I usually say, “Listen! I hear a bulldozer. Do you hear that?”

That gets him almost every time. If that still doesn’t work though then I go into Phase Three. Phase Three is when you get silly. For example, Listen! I hear a puppy! Is there a puppy in your boot? Lets look in there. No puppy. Maybe it’s in your coat. Let’s look in your coat.

David is a very busy boy and he loves to be defiant. Last night I was putting him to bed and he was really putting up a fight. He was screaming and trying to kick off his blankets. He must have realized that wasn’t working so he started the Listen Game.

“Listen Mom! I hear a puppy.”

“You do? Is it in your bed. Maybe it’s under your blankets. Let’s look.”

David threw the blankets off of him again and said, “It’s not under my blankets Mom. The puppy is in the Bonus Room. Listen. He said woof woof David, come play with me.”

I laughed so hard I almost let him out of bed.

Almost.