Thursday Thirteen: What My Broken Record Plays

They can hear Mr. Softee 2 miles away. Reindeer hooves on the roof. And if you talk about going to Toys R Us while they are sleeping, they'll hear you as if you were sitting right next to them, and remember it when they wake up. My son remembers when we are going to a birthday party or cousin Thomas' house if I whisper it from other room and my daughter can recite back to you in verbatim what you just told her about princesses and fairies, while you were cooking dinner and she was watching her tv show. But stand right next to them and tell them to do something, they turn the deaf ear to my voice and I become invisible. Most days I feel like a broken record, spouting demands over and over again until I could say them in my unconscious state of exhaustion. And sometimes I feel like if I turned and talked to the wall, I'd be better off. But threaten talking to such iconic figures as Santa, the Easter Bunny, or daddy, and their hearing goes to perfection. So what does my broken record say?

"Get your fingers out of your nose."

"Don't sit on your baby brother."

"Stop chasing the cat."

"Take that out of your mouth"

"Leave leave the baby alone. Leave the baby alone. Leave the baby alone."

"Put baby John down."

"Get out of the refridgerator."

"Did you just hear what I said? no answer. "Hello, do you hear me? Did you just hear what I said?" "No answer, not even a glance un my direction. "I'm gonna tell daddy that you aren't listening." What Mom?"

"Stop jumping off the couch."

"Get out of the bathroom."

"If you don't clean up your toys, I'm going to put them in the trash."

"If you keep talking about your birthday, there will be no birthday." This really isn't as mean as it sounds, when his birthday isn't until March 15th and we have been talking about it since March 16th.

"If you don't start to listen to me, I'm gonna tell daddy." I swore I would never say this one, but desperate acts, result in desperate measures.

What does your broken record play?