Look, the tenth time they ask
A child asking you to watch the same trick again is asking whether they are still interesting to you.
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The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
The repeated demand for attention is tedious precisely because it is not about the trick — it is a check on whether attention is still available. Answering without looking up is registered accurately and cumulatively. Fully attending for fifteen seconds, several times, is far more effective than an hour of distracted presence, and considerably cheaper.
How
Put the phone down and actually watch, then say something specific about what changed since last time. Fifteen seconds of real attention beats five minutes of half-attention, and they can tell the difference every time.
Answer if you want. It changes which ideas are shown first.
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