Sometimes eavesdropping on my children’s conversation is the best way for me to know that they love me.

Typically the fare is rather juvenile, especially when between the six and eleven year old. But every once in a while there’s a gem hidden among the fart noises and talk of their favorite T.V. characters.

Perhaps your children shower you with expressions of love and adoration, but mine have nearly stopped altogether, unless coerced. And there’s only so many times a mother can say to her sons, “say, I love you,” before it’s embarrassing – and that amount is once.

So imagine my delight when I overheard my son sharing a gratitude about something I did for him. No coercing. No forcing.

It was music to my ears.

Eaves dropping is probably not a parenting technique I should encourage in others. But let me say this: sometimes what children say when they think we’re not listening lets us know that they’ve listened to all the times we’ve said, “I love you.”

It’s hard to know what will stick with our children, but if we listen for it, there are always hints sprinkled along the way.

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