It's incredible what we don't see and hear, even when it's staring us right in the face, until we're ready to do so. One of my twins broke his arm playing little league a few years back. Naturally I was distraught as I rode with him to the hospital, as any parent would be seeing their child in pain. As I tried to comfort him and assure him everything would be okay, he looked at me and asked, "Mommy, can I stop playing little league now?" I responded by pointing out that he loved little league. He countered that he did not and repeated things he told me before, but I'd dismissed. This twin is my artist; my other twin is the athlete. I wish I could say it was a matter of confusing the preferences of my two identical boys, but it wasn't. I was imposing my needs for scheduling convenience and my preconceived notion of "acceptable" activities for little boys upon my sensitive, gifted son. He'd told me many times and in many ways that he didn't like baseball or soccer, but I wouldn't hear him. My son's broken arm taught me to pay closer attention to what my children have to say, even if they don't express it in words.

Kids are communicating with us all the time, we need only adjust the way we listen, see, and respond.