Tonight, I was solo parenting because Chris was out with a friend. So after picking up Kaia from school, I brought her home to have dinner, clean up, play for a little, floss and brush teeth, get into her pajamas, and do bedtime stories. This is our usual Wednesday routine, just minus Chris. I realized that I had an AFSP Walk committee meeting tonight, the first of the season, and so I told Kaia that she needed to be in bed by 7:30 so I could start my call on time.
We did finish bedtime stories and the pre-bedtime pee in time. But the issue is that my child has massive FOMO, and she especially has FOMO when she knows other people will be around. So of course, she snuck out of her room multiple times while I was on this video call to make an appearance and look at everyone. A couple people noticed her and waved and smiled. And she watched as each person spoke and their mouth moved. And finally, I had to get off the call early because I really did not want her sleep deprived. Somehow, I managed to last 40 minutes.
I brought her to bed and cuddled with her for a bit at her request. And she had all kinds of questions: Who was the lady with the AirPods? Why was only one person speaking? What’s that person’s name? What are you talking about?
The one person speaking question is funny because Kaia is at her prime time of NOT understanding why only one person can speak at a time, and absolutely loves interrupting others (but hates to be interrupted herself. This sounds like most adults). So I had to explain to her that when there is a meeting or conversation happening, only one person can speak at a time so everyone can hear them. Each person has their turn to speak. Otherwise, if more than one person speaks, then no one is hearing what each person is saying, and therefore no one understands, and people feel frustrated. And talking over others is very disrespectful and just plain not nice. And in that case, why even speak or have the conversation at all? It’s pointless!
What was Kaia’s response? “Oh.” And then she did her usual head tilt, looked up, and then snuggled back up to me.
Maybe she understood. Maybe she didn’t. But very soon, she will learn the beginnings of conversations and how people must operate together to be effective. I mean… I’m still learning this and I am 40, so we all know this is a lifelong skill!