What do you do when the talking’s out of control?
Ten-year-old Alana talks too much. When her friends see her coming they run the other way. Family members — especially her parents — have more trouble escaping. “She doesn’t seem to have an ‘off-button’ ” Alana’s mom complains. “She talks on and on and if I dare ask her to finish her story she gets so insulted. She wants me to stop whatever I’m doing and just listen to her. In my busy life I don’t have time for that! I tell her to be briefer but it never makes a difference. Ironically if I ever try to say anything Alana is so impatient!”
Chani’s husband Dovid has a similar problem. “Dovid is a very detailed-oriented person” Chani says. “The problem is that he cares about details that no one else cares about. So he’ll start explaining something at the Shabbos table in excruciating detail without realizing that he’s the only one excited about the topic. Guests are polite of course but I’m embarrassed. He doesn’t seem to realize that he’s burdening his listeners. To top it off when guests are leaving Dovid follows them still talking while they hold the door open.”
Sixteen-year-old Chaim knows he has a talking problem. His parents have made it very clear. “They say things to me like ‘enough already!’ but I just can’t stop in the middle. I have to finish. And while it’s true that I’m saying a lot it feels to me like it’s the only way I can say what I have to.”
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