Most of the time, I have a basic idea of what I’m going to write a few posts ahead of time.  But today, I want to put my schedule aside to address something interesting that happened this morning with my son.

He and I were in the car on our way to his preschool.  He randomly asked me if we were going to get a sofa today.  I wondered what spurred this question.  I looked around and saw lots of delivery trucks on the highway, so I figured there must have been a picture of a furniture company’s showroom on the side of one of them.  But why would my son think that we might buy a sofa?  Then it hit me: my husband and I were talking about it yesterday when our son was supposedly taking a nap.

It was not the most riveting conversation we’ve had- a liquidation warehouse was having their year-end sale and we were debating whether or not to purchase a sectional.  You could say we were arguing in the truest sense of the word… merely presenting varied points of view.  We were not angry, but we may have raised our voices as opinions and teasing mounted.  We were hardly angry and the whole exchange might have taken ten minutes.  But apparently, those ten minutes were significant enough in a 3.5 year old’s mind to pop into his head the next day.

All over a sofa. 

Can you imagine the impact if it were a more serious topic?

Indeed, the walls have ears.  You may think they are asleep, but voices carry.  You may be in the finished basement with several floors between you, but not if they are secretly standing at the top of the stairs.  Air vents carry more than the hot air from the heat pump.

So make it your 153Promise today to accept that any conversation you may be having with your partner, your children may very well hear it.

Would you want them to be burdened with the knowledge that you are struggling to make ends meet?  That your marriage is rocky?  That you’re running out of ideas of what to do regarding their behavior?  That their shortcomings drive you crazy?

I was that kid at the top of the stairs 30-some years ago.  It was the creepiest feeling to know that conversations about me were going on without me.  It was like sneaking into a movie theater to the sequel of a really bad horror flick.  And I was the supporting role without any lines.

Please make the153Promise to choose your words wisely.  Because you never know how the words you utter will ultimately land.  Earshot is a lot farther reaching than you realize.