Active listening
By blueunicorn
@blueunicorn (2401)
United States
November 30, 2007 2:41pm CST
I just read a great article about active listening. Unfortunately I can't share a link because it was in a magazine. Anyway, the author was talking about how her son learned in school to put on his "listening ears" when the teacher told them to. The rest of the article brought up good points about how we are always multi-tasking anymore and questioned if we ever REALLY listen to each other anymore. I thought this would be a great discussion. What do you do to show others that you are listening? Do you tend to listen to your spouse and children with only one ear? One of the questions brought up in the article was if you can truely hear what another person is saying while you compose a text message for example. What do you think about that? Does it drive you crazy when you are working or playing at your computer and your kids or spouse try to talk to you? Discuss away!
1 person likes this
4 responses
@newzealtralian (3930)
• Australia
2 Dec 07
I like to think I am an active listener. I wish there were times when I wasn't though. I find that men are more easily able to only half listen and that is pretty annoying! Talk about brick walls! I have found that even when I am online I can actively listen. This does mean having to retype a lot, as I end up typing what I am listening too! lol.
1 person likes this
@newzealtralian (3930)
• Australia
3 Dec 07
Classic! My dad is another classic! We learned pretty quickly to ask for what we wanted while he was watching sport! that way, he never said no! lol. Don't you love the timing of men though?
1 person likes this
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
2 Dec 07
I hate when I wind up typing what I am listening to! Last week my husband called right in the middle of me typing a Helium article. I didn't want to lose my train of thought on the article, and I just couldn't get him to hush for a second. He was talking about something like what he wanted to do that night. I realized that we needed better communication when instead of answering him back I wound up saying the next sentence in my article. That was pretty bad. He finally said, "Am I calling at a bad time?" and I was able to explain that I wasn't trying to ignore him but I was right in the middle of something.
1 person likes this
@goinliveinfive (561)
• United States
30 Nov 07
I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What were you talking about?
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
30 Nov 07
Cute! You know, I've gotten that as a response before in a live conversation after I've went on about a point for quite some time. Maybe I just need to learn to shut up! LOL
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
1 Dec 07
I've done that, Lil. Those are the times that I say, "What?" then answer the question 5 seconds later because it finally sank in what the person is saying.
@redbubbles (329)
• Philippines
3 Dec 07
i feel guilty upon reading this. yes, you're right. we do have a lot to do that we forgot and neglect listening, really good listening to people around us especially at home. sometimes, i just answered my children yes or no without really 'listening' to what they're asking or saying because i'm busy doing something or just watching tv. that's just what i'm guilty about.
but, i stop composing text messages when somebody is talking to me. in fact, a friend in school before, admire me because she said that i'm a good listener. i always listen attentively to the teacher, to the group or any individual who talks to me.
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
3 Dec 07
Don't feel guilty, red. I think as moms we all do that sometimes. Now that we've noticed it we just need to try to change what we are doing rather than feel guilty about it.
@chrislotz (8136)
• Canada
3 Dec 07
If I'm doing something, like posting in mylot, and my spouse talks to me, I just stop what I'm doing and listen to him. He is more important to me than the internet ever will be. The only time he will not talk to me is if I'm on the phone. He respects me enough to know that would be impolite. But the computer can wait.
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I agree that the husband and kids are more important than anything on the internet will ever be. However, they need to use common courtesy, too. If you were working on the computer, for example, before your husband was even home and he walks into the room you should be able to finish the sentence you were typing or the thought you were trying to finish. I think in that aspect it is give and take. I would definitely get off the computer completely if my husband said he had something he needed to talk to me about. I would, though, ask for a second to finish what I was doing.
