One thing about myself that I've decided to be concious of lately is my listening skills. I was raised by a family that interrupted incessantly and had to break myself of the habit once I moved out and hooked up with He Who Would Become My DH out of sheer necessity. It was one of the hardest things I'd had to to up to that point--to shut up an let someone finish their sentence.
Now that I've mostly got that part down, I want to learn how to really listen.
Instead of:
waiting for my turn to speak,
anticipating what I think might be said next,
composing my response in my head while the other person is still speaking,
inturupting to offer solutions or advice,
expecting people to listen to one of my ancedotes for each one they share (the hardest one for me),
resenting that "I can't get a word in edgewise" sometimes and start a battle over who gets to talk more,
I'll just listen.
The other thing...stop talking to kids, including my own, in a high, singsong voice. I think it's really starting to turn my daughter off and suspect that's one main reason she's tuning me out. I think it affects how other kids are relating to me, too. She's five, not 2 months old. At this point, it's a matter of showing mutual respect for esch other.
Anyway, gotta go. Thought I'd share what's been on my mind.
