Selective Hearing! Oh yea we all got that :D

People who ignore when you are screaming at them, will strain to hear a whisper. So if you really want them to listen, whisper. Selective hearing? You are right. We all have that. We just need to start off saying something they want to hear, then hit them with the truth.

I too have selective hearing! It even activated without me knowing. I specially find it at my work. When my boss starts rambling about what he wants done. My special powers of selective hearing is usually pretty good of only hearing that I really need to pay attention to. It usually tunes out when there is a lot of BS in the discussion.

I don't consider what you're describing as "selective hearing" & you're not describing somebody with a hearing problem. I know I have this problem & I don't select what to hear & what not to hear. I just know that if I'm thinking of something & all the noise around me sounds "normal" that I continue with my thought & don't hear what is being said around me unless it is being said directly to me. It seems to be human nature that when we hear somebody whispering that we feel left out & a need to know what is going on & we tend to "pay attention"!!! Mothers intuition says that when there's whispering her children are up to something & she needs to know what so she can protect them. My boss has learned that if he needs me to be paying attention to what he's getting ready to say that he needs to start the conversation with my name. That snaps me out of the oblivion my brain is in!!! Of course I'm assuming your Mom isn't that old!!! When my Mom got into her late 70s she began to not respond to things I just said to her even when we were talking one on one on the telephone. When I noticed her "ignoring" me I'd always ask "Did you not hear me or are you ignoring me?" And she always responded "I heard you, but I chose not to answer." We took her to have her hearing checked & she could hear just fine. It took years for the doctors to finally figure out that she had a disorder of the brain where her brain wasn't always processing what was being said to her & she didn't know how to respond. So, she covered up her embarrassment with "I chose not to answer." So, there can be MANY reasons why people appear to be selectively hearing what you're saying. With your Mom, you might trying calling to her first & when you see her acknowledge you've spoken to her then say what you have to say. Then if she doesn't respond well, you might want to take her to a doctor!!!

There is an expression that people hear what they want to hear and I am a strong believer to that. It is amazing how at times people don't pay attention and then *poof* they there with their 2c and thoughts and advice(without being asked).