But I don't cut him off because one of my clearest early memories is a parent saying to me, honey, you've talked for x minutes straight now you need to be quiet for X minutes. I was so insulted, but I can't say I have never tuned out and I have been caught too - mommy how was my black hole traveling around the sun, what, what???
That's interesting - but isn't it the case that what was insulting was not being asked for quiet, exactly, but rather realising that your speech had been timed rather than listened to? We all have different things that strike us as unacceptable things to do to children and it's often to do with what was done to us. I couldn't give you a specific example to explain why, but to me, one thing that seems unacceptable is tuning my DS out, that is, pretend to listen when I'm not. I want him to listen when people are talking to him, and it seems to me that that gives me an obligation to listen when he's talking to me. This is one of the reasons why I feel free to tell him when I can't listen right now, or any more. Sometimes I do even say "I can't really pay attention right now" while still letting him talk on, but at least then he's had fair warning that I'd fail any test he set!
