conuly

Jenn et al. were upstate (hey, it is NORTH of the city limits. That makes it upstate) with his family.

Michelle's got two kids, a four year old (Deniz) and a 15 month old (Su). Sweeties, really - but Deniz, man does she ever crave attention. You can't get a moment alone without hearing "My bear is called Sparkles, did you know? Cats don't like having their tails pulled, did you know that? I saw a seal yesterday, I saw a hundred seals, did you know? I really want attention, pay attention to me, you're not paying enough attention to me, did you know that? Did you?"

So I ended up instituting the one-chapter rule. I'd play one game with her. When she changed the subject and wanted to play a different game, I'd agree to play it after reading one chapter of my book. That worked... moderately well, actually. She still interrupted me every other second, but she could be politely and firmly sent away.

Mommy and Michelle are worried she may have a hearing problem, and after spending a day with her, I'm a bit concerned too. I know she's four, and my speech historically has given people problems (in recent years, that's mostly been to people from other countries, but even people who know me well will claim I have an accent), but even so I should *not* have to repeat a sentence three or four or five times for her to understand it. Not when she's standing right next to me and the rest of the house is being fairly quiet. And it seems telling to me that after the first time, she'll stare intently at my mouth as I speak.