On the down low

Little and I were on our way to Walmart last night for just a few things.  We had dropped Big and Middle off at football practice and off we went.  Little had his booster seat in the very back of the van so I could not hear very much of his constant rambling.  He was upset because I was making him go with me instead of being able to watch the "football boys". 

Anyway, a song came on the radio that I really like, so I turned it up to sing along.  Pretty soon, I hear Little from the way backseat (as he calls it), "Mom...can you do like five down lows?" 

The conversation when downhill in a hurry from there.

Me:  What is a down low?
Little:  Just do it, please.
Me:  Little, I don't know what that means?
Little:  MOOOOOOMMMMMM!
Me:  What did you say?  You want me to give you a down low? 
Little:  NOOOO!  FIVE downlows.
Me:  Calm down...I don't understand what you are saying.
Little:  (crying and frustrated)  TURN DOWN YOUR SONG FIVE DOWN LOWS!
Me:  Oh good grief. (turning song down)

Major miscommunication.  One, I could barely hear him from the "way back" of the van.  Two, he was asking me to do something that I didn't understand.  He didn't know how to communicate it to me and I wasn't thinking outside of the box at all.  The more I tried to understand, the more he got upset.  Like I said...downhill in a hurry.

I could blame him for not knowing how to properly communicate with me.  But I feel like I was just as much to blame for not trying to better understand what it was that he was saying.  Maybe I could have asked him to give me clues.  Maybe I could have turned the music down to better hear him...but it was a really good song people.   Communication and lack there of can either make or break a situation. 

It isn't always the other person's fault completely.  It might not be the other person's fault at all.  Yet we jump quickly to blame someone else when information gets crossed in the wires. 

Have you ever played catch phrase?  You have to give clues to a word without using the word or rhyming.  I am not so good at this game and Coach gets a little frustrated with me.  I would get stuck on a clue and use it over and over, and Coach would get no where with trying to guess what it was.  Had I changed things up, or had he tried to think outside of what I was saying, we might have made a better team.  (we don't actually partner up anymore because he loves to win and usually, I am not so good at it.) 

Communication is key in all situations.  We have to be open and willing to put some of the blame on ourselves when something gets all turned around. 

As we were walking last night after practice, Little called me a fastpoke.  That means, for anyone who has trouble understanding Little, that I was walking faster than he was.  Communicating with a 4 year old is not easy.

Have a blessed day!
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