Dear Judy,

I have a little boy who will not stop talking. I mean, from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep its non-stop. He will talk about books,animals, movies, dinosaurs, anything that will keep his mouth moving. What do I do to keep his vocabulary from driving me crazy?

--HARD OF HEARING, ITHACA, NY :)

HARD OF HEARING,

WOW! You too have one of those.  It does make for a very difficult day.  There are a few suggestions for you.  Allow him to use his wonderful verbal skills to read to sister. He can also talk into a microphone for the afternoon, and then play it back for him to "listen to himself for awhile".  I also think that this is a good time to begin talking to him about being more of a "giving person".  Let other people talk, other people may have some good information for you that "you" can listen too.  Other paople may being having somehting that they need to talk about as well.  That being said, there is something to be said about them finally starting school, seeing their smiling, yet tired face get off the bus and hearing them say "I am too tired to talk about my day right now".
 Good luck and happy listening, remember they are only young once.

Judy