Shhhhh!

Izzy loves school. He loves his friends, his teacher, and doesn't even mind the work. In fact, he read me his very first story today. I almost cried. (It doesn't take much...)

There is one problem, he loves it so much he can't seem to keep quiet. My once super shy and timid little guy is now talking like he is Regis and his job depends on it. Now I understand, he is probably not just sitting at a table talking to himself...there are other kids talking with him, it does bother me that he isn't using self control. I wasn't really expecting this from Izzy, so I am kind of unsure of the best way to handle it. We have a chart system that he can earn rewards from and if he has a great day at school or shows kindness and something extraordinary he gets to move it. Yesterday he wasn't able to move his chart because he got in trouble for talking too much and then not understanding the directions the teacher had given. WELCOME TO MY LIFE.

I have never had so much understanding on an issue as this. My sweet husband is so many many wonderful things, but one horrible, terrible bad habit he has is his 1/2 listening. Oh. My. Word....it is ridiculous. I know he isn't doing it intentionally, and he knows it's a problem and hates when he does it, but it is just that, a bad habit. In fact all of the guys in his family have a problem. Seems it's genetic.

Example: (Feel free to laugh at our ridiculousness)

Hubby's birthday was this weekend and we had a blast and he was spoiled by family and our wonderful friends. As we were cleaning up after this weekends festivities, I say, "Wow, you sure got spoiled this year!"
Hubby: *washing dishes* "Huh?"
Me: *repeats*
Hubby: "I'm not understanding what you are saying?"
Me: "You don't understand English?"
Hubby: "It doesn't make sense....what you said....I'm confused."
Me: "No, it makes sense, it is English. You would understand if you listened."
This convo goes back and forth for at least 10 ridiculous minutes and ends in us both laughing at his atrocious listening skills.

This is my entire married life and now my entire parenting life. "Huh?" "What?" "When did you tell me that?" "What did you need me to do?"

I'm quite certain I am not the only wife who has a half listening Hubby, and lucky for him he is so great in everything else it helps to make up for it. My issue, is that it is a bad habit that is spreading like wildfire to our children.

My solution after Izzy's rough Monday? He is to repeat any direction we give him out loud and then complete the direction. Of course he can't do this at school, because he would get in trouble for talking again. :) So I explained, that he needs to listen, repeat the direction in his head and then complete it. He tends to want to double check everything before doing it, and I am sure with a classroom of students she doesn't have the time or patience to repeat that many times. He lost some privileges at home until his teacher lets me know he is making better efforts at self control during his day. This is a tough lesson, but it will really pay off for the rest of his life if he can learn it now. His future wife will thank me. Listening is such a vital instrument in all relationships and I hope I can teach him to have good listening habits from now on.

I am taking any and all suggestions on how to combat a little talker and his no good, very bad listening skills.

Side Note:
**I can write about these things because I have a blog. My Hubby doesn't, so you can go ahead thinking I'm perfect.