Good Ears

My hearing has never been good. It's been adequate to pass hearing tests, but I've always been a "volume up" kind of person. When I was a kid, people would ask me why I was yelling, and I often cant hear the difference between an A or an A-flat unless they are played consecutively.

Son#1 has very good hearing. So good that I wonder how much sleep he really gets sometimes. We have two dogs, and every now and then they need to be let out in the middle of the night. It wakes #1 just about every time. Last night I was downstairs listening to an interview, and he yells down to turn the noise down so he can sleep.

It used to be a problem when he was younger, and it sometimes still is. He has trouble dealing with #4 and #5 crying. He gets confused and overwhelmed, and the result is even more yelling, shaking of fists, etc. Sometimes he just walks out of the house to get away from it all. Other times, #2 will get all teen-age-moody, and while we're trying to get him to not take it out of others, #1 will hear the conversation from another room. #2's opinion is very important to #1, and it is difficult for #1 to understand that sometimes #2 just says things to be hurtful, not because he thinks they are true.

Still, I have to give him credit. #1 works very hard at being accepting. What he really wants is peace, love, and harmony, and he knows that means sometimes he has to overlook #5 throwing toys down the stairs, or at least letting Mom and Dad handle it instead of taking matters into his own hands. All part of the jouys of family, I guess.