Why are we Crappy Listeners as Caregivers?

Contact Helping.Mom (we don’t spam) What makes us crappy listeners? God gave us 2 ears & 1 mouth,, that we would listen 2X more than we talk. So what went wrong?  The thing we need the most of, we do the least.  Broadly speaking sociolinguists identify 3 broad barriers to effective listening:  Internal barriers—daydreaming, ignorance, hearing problems, tired, ADD, jumping to conclusions, personal attacks, listening to speak instead of listening to receive.  External barriers-noise to signal ratio,, context unclear, social pressures, language misunderstandings, Complexity of situation, Emotionalism, noises, TV blaring, time limits  Stereotyping & Bias. 52 to be specific. Most important—confirmation, anchor, Golden Boy, social conformism   So what causes ME to be a crappy listener for my mom? 1) Whack-a-Mole mentality of always solving problems 2) Assuming  3) Anger/Fear—Fear/Anger 4) Unresolved family conflict. Member tension 5) Lack of plan. So much of caregiving seems like planlessness  6) Performance anxiety/perfectionism  The beginning and end of caregiving is listening. So why don’t we? I’m sorry, what did you say??!