To be or not be….. Present!

I have decided to work on being present in my dealings with people and not being distracted particularly when it comes to my children. How many times have I under the auspices of multi-tasking, listened absent-mindedly to something they are telling me and just made the right noises?

Well I was caught out today by my 14 year old and what a coincidence that it happened when I had decided to be more present? This afternoon he decided to tell me about something or other that he had been doing ( I was that engaged that I can ‘t even remember what he was telling me:). Anyway he said something that required a ‘WOW’ so I said ‘wow’ in that absent-minded way while continuing to prepare lunch. He turned around and said that was the most un ‘wow’ sounding ‘wow’ he had heard in this life!!!!

That was me told. He wasn’t fooled by non-engagement, multi-tasking ,call it what you will. I just wasn’t present and I was caught out. There will always be something to distract us, we can choose what gets our attention. That engaged ‘wow’ from me contributes to my son’s self esteem. So what is it to be, present or dis-engaged?