One of the toughest things about being a parent is when we get that feeling that we are talking to a wall instead of our kid. When this appears, over and over again, that our kid is either not hearing us, choosing not to listen to us, or acting annoyed; it can drain us parents and break our hearts. Sometimes, in despair, we end up throwing our hands in the air and wonder where we went wrong.

Believe it or not, our children are not only hoping that we won't go away and leave them alone, but they are also actually listening to us even when they are pretending that they are not. I know this pretending thing can be especially hard on us because we don't always know that our kids are secretly doing this to us. There doesn't seem to be any obvious evidence that they are just playing this youthful game with us.

However, sometime in the near future when some other kid offers our kid drugs, or maybe something else that they shouldn't be involved in, and our kid turns and walks away it will be because he or she heard our voice in their head. That is the proof that they were listening to us. Sadly, though, most of us parents will never become aware of this evidence, and that's the tough part and beautiful part of this whole parenting thing that makes it simultaneously so difficult and rewarding for us as parents.

You will just have to take my word on this one as your friendly expert who has spent over 10,000 hours with all sorts of kids. Believe me when I tell you that they are indeed listening, no matter what you may be seeing, hearing or feeling at the moment.

Now as my Granddaddy always said, "Go learn, lead, and lay the way to a better world for all of us." Don't ever give up parents because our kids really are listening to us. And once again parents, thanks in advance for all that you do, and all that you will do...