MaryClaire Jones
Do you ever wonder exactly what your kids are thinking and whether or not they hear anything you say? Does it seem like your words fall on deaf ears?
I remember those feelings many times when my girls were growing up – especially as they reached their teen years. I always wondered if I was simply a person without an audible voice when it came to them listening to what I had to say.
In a recent conversation with a very special young friend, we talked about this topic. MaryClaire Jones is graduating from James Madison University in May, 2012 with a degree in Media Arts and Design, and she is wise beyond her years. She excels in school and is an avid reader and writer. She has incredible ambition for the future and sees challenges and obstacles as just a temptation to work harder and reach for the sky.
After our conversation over lunch about how moms struggle with wondering how to best communicate with their children, she sent me an article she had written. I’ve posted it below for all of the Richmond moms out there who question if their children are listening. What I learned from MaryClaire is that not only are our children listening when we talk directly to them, they’re listening when we’re talking to others and they’re watching every move we make!
Well Mom’s Right!
By MaryClaire Jones – Guest Writer
It snuck up on me. I was sitting in the living room, pretending to watch The Social Network and listening to Abby, my 15-year-old sister, get reamed out by my mom for forgetting some school-related transgression.
Now, I’ve had my share of academic missteps, and I’ve been on the receiving end of more than a few parental tirades. So you can imagine my shock when my sister came to me for sympathy, and, without thinking, my reaction was, “Well, Mom’s right.”
I was flabbergasted. I had a whole compassionate-big-sister speech at the ready, but my maturity, theretofore sporadic at best, chose that moment to make a starring appearance. It was every daughter’s worst nightmare: I was turning into my mother. All of those years of listening to her and watching how she handled situations had taught me about being responsible. Observing her responses to life’s events gave me insights into what life was really all about.
Look, I’ll come right out and say it: I’ve always considered my mom and I to be very different people. I got her freckles, her left-handedness and, according to several of my friends, her exact same walk (which is impressive, considering I’m almost six inches taller than she is). But, in my mind, the similarities ended there.
I can be sarcastic to the point of snarkiness, and my mom is one of the most sincere people I know. My room is frequently a disaster area, whereas she hates any sort of clutter. I’m over-dramatic and prone to fleeting passions; she’s almost always totally even-keel (although I do relish those rare moments when she loses her rock-solid composure).
And yet, she’s the one I called, mid-panic attack, two weeks into my freshman year of college. She’s the one who calls me when she gets an email about Jason Mraz concert tickets going on sale. She’s the one who puts up with my passionate and all-consuming love for Harry Potter. She’s the one who lets me pick the music when we take entirely-too-frequent day trips to the Williamsburg outlets. She’s the one who taught me about responsibility, caring, and being the best person I can be.
I’m proud of the ways that I’m similar to my mom, and no matter how different we are, I will always want to be more like her.
MaryClaire’s mother has a lot to be be proud of.
And thanks to MaryClaire for reminding us that our children are listening – even when we’re not talking to them.
