Overheard:
Six year old to younger sister: You never hear anything.
Five year old: I know. It’s weird. Sometimes my ears turn off when people start talking to me.
This is completely believable to me as I took her in to the doctor for her physical as she is entering Kindergarten next year. I warned the nurse practitioner that my daughter had some problems hearing. But a few minutes later, they stepped out of the room and the nurse practitioner said her hearing was perfect.
“Then she’s in a lot of trouble,” I said.
I don’t know if she’s just not interested, or if her her interior voice is just louder than my voice, or perhaps her interior voice is just plain more interesting than me.
June 17, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I have a similar problem.
It never occurred to me that my kids might have hearing difficulties, as they can apparently discern the sound of Mr. Softee’s truck from approximately seven miles away, but every once in a while, I thought to myself, “Gee, I wonder if they heard that?” because I was completely ignored.
And so, at last year’s physical exam, I asked the nurse to test their hearing, and to test for the following specifically: I wanted to know if they could hear
“Clean up your room!”
and
“Stop hitting your brother!”
Turns out that they COULD hear them, and so punishments were handed out liberally to both.
Regards,
Jenny
June 17, 2008 at 9:11 pm
We have the same problem… most especially with our 5 year old. Like you mentioned, I think the voice in his head is much more entertaining than that of me telling him to knock it off!
June 17, 2008 at 9:43 pm
It is nice (sort of) when my 8 year old is so engrossed in a book that I almost have to wave my hand in front of her face to acknowledge me or to listen to something I am saying.
June 17, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I have the opposite problem. I was convinced my 3 boys were hearing-impaired because they are so darn loud all the time!! I have their hearing checked every year at school – it keeps coming back ok, so I guess they’re just being boys.
June 18, 2008 at 12:06 am
I have the same problem with my two cats. They are 6 years old.
To get their attention, I open the food container. Works every time.
June 18, 2008 at 12:59 am
I have solved that problem, pretty much. I just ask, “Are you IGNORING me?” For some reason, kids almost always want to respond to that question. When they don’t, I know they really didn’t hear me.
Kate
June 18, 2008 at 2:46 am
Your child has a terrific sense of humor for a five-year old. Maybe soon enough she’ll be able to post here.
June 18, 2008 at 4:02 am
My wife blames me for the children’s sense of humor. I thought it was a good thing. She…not so much.
June 18, 2008 at 2:37 pm
We call it “selective deafness” in our house…and experience it often! Somehow, though, the whispered words “Do you want ice cream?” are ALWAYS heard. I’ve started prefacing EVERYTHING I want to say with that, and have found improved attention-getting!
June 19, 2008 at 6:46 am
my parents have the same prob.. according to them, no one hears ‘COME FOR DINNER…NOW!’, but when a chocolate is unwrapped, somehow the crackle of the paper seems to penetrate closed doors.. 🙂 It’s a universal phenomenon.