Having a conversation with my six-year-old can be challenging. My voice just doesn’t get through all the distractions he submits to.
I ask him to wear shoes in the morning, but he can’t hear me over the ‘swoosh’ and ‘whoosh’ of his imaginary bay blades in action. I chide him about his half-eaten lunch, but he is busy commanding two giant yellow leaves into battle. I try to pry the details of his day from him, but pokemon Hyno has him in his rapture.
Hence a few times a day, I find myself yelling, “ARE YOU LISTENING?”
Then the other day, I got a taste of my own medicine. On the way back from school, he was looking out the window. I asked him what he was thinking.
“Did you know what happened to Zygarde?” he asked me.
“What?” I responded, elated to have been taken into confidence.
He launched into a description of Zygarde, his type, and region
“Hmm,” I tried to keep up.
He continued “You see Raichu evolved from Pikachu, but not every Pokemon evolves. Zygarde doesn’t evolve.”
I nodded.
“Squishy, Bonnie, Lysandre, Bulbasaur…”
I heard the words in the background as my thoughts slowly drifted away. I had to stop at Trader Joes for groceries. My piece on AI needed further refining. I had to buy a birthday gift for my younger one’s classmate. The vacation request at school had to be submitted. My jeans were begging to be washed.
Suddenly, I heard my son yell from the back
“ARE YOU LISTENING?”