Just take the time to listen

I truly believe that some of the greatest ideas come from children. We simply just have to take the time to stop and listen to them.

I mean really, listen to them.

That doesn’t mean we pull “the smile and nod” technique or repeat the last thing they said back to them so they think we are listening. I mean actual listening.

A dear friend of mine always said “The Lord gave us two ears to hear and one mouth to speak.” How true that is. He also pointed out that we have these two ears because we are supposed to be listening twice as much as speaking.

I know it’s hard to do. Believe me. I am in a job where I literally am trained to actually listen to people and write what I hear. At the end of the day, I just want to shut it off.

Then, I think to myself. At the end of the day, I’m with the most important people in the world to me and I shouldn’t be shutting off my listening skills.

This week, my youngest son, John, needed to bring baked goods to school for the bake sale the PTO was hosting.

I had a meeting every night of the week, even on the night the baked goods were to be made.

After I got out of my meeting, I was quickly thinking about what kind of baked goods I should make. What’s easy to make that kids love to eat? I thought about Rice Krispie bars. I was only hoping my son John didn’t have another idea because I was tired and just wanted to get it done.

When I got home, we ate dinner.

After dinner, as I was cleaning up, I asked my youngest son what he thought we should bring to the bake sale. At first, he said pumpkin pie, however, I quickly told him it has to be something that can be individually wrapped and I was thinking about Rice Krispie bars.

He thought for a little bit and then said “Let’s make popcorn.”

“Popcorn?” I asked.

“Yes. We can add M&Ms and nuts and anything else we want,” John said.

I said I think I have Halloween treat bags we can use, but I have to check first. So I went to the drawer I thought they would be in and sure enough there were some left. I pulled them out and went back to the kitchen. Next, I looked into the pantry to see what I had. No M&Ms or nuts. Then I remembered, we had M&M packets that we didn’t put in our trick or treat bags. John was following me around the house by now, just watching where I stashed the hidden candy, which I will have to find a new hiding place.

I handed eight packets of M&Ms to him. It was all I had. I figured we’ll just make eight treat bags. After putting the M&M’s on the table, we both looked in the pantry to see what else we could mix with the popcorn, which was already popping, and the M&Ms.

“Marshmallows,” John yelled.

He grabbed the multi-colored mini marshmallows and plopped them on the table with a big smile on his face.

At first, I was going to say “No, we can’t add that,” but then I thought “If he’s a kid and he thinks it will be good together, it probably will be.”

We finished popping the popcorn and added it along with the marshmallows and M&Ms to the treat bag. When we were finished, we both marveled at how yummy it looked. It looked appetizing and it was easy to make.

This small experience is just one of many that has reminded and taught me to listen to my kids even when I’m in a hurry. They truly have great ideas. I’m not even sure how the popcorn, marshmallow and M&M mixture did at the bake sale; and I don’t even care. I’m just proud that I was able to take my son’s idea and make it a reality.