I was driving home from work the other night, and as the light snow fell I listened to the host ask people to call in to talk about New Year's resolutions. He wasn't just asking what listeners were planning for 2009, but also how their goals for 2008 worked out.

After listening to about three callers who all said their goals were weight or fitness related -- and not met in 2008 so reset for 2009, I might add -- I was about to change the station. Getting in shape is a common goal -- we all know it, we all hear about it, people who want to sell us stuff capitalize on it at this time of year.

To my mind, it gets a little tiring.

My finger was on the button to switch the station when a woman called in and said her resolution wasn't about her weight or body image. She said she set a resolution in 2008 to make an effort to listen, really listen, when her children were talking to her. No more half-listening while the TV or radio is going; no more reading a recipe in a magazine while the child is talking. Her resolution was to, when possible, stop what she was doing and give her child her full attention.

As painful as it is to admit, I recognized myself in what she was saying. When your kids are young, they seem to tell you everything. There's no determination about whether or not a story is worth telling or a game they played is worth reliving or a TV commercial is worth imitating. It all comes at you, all the time. 

If we're honest, we'll admit that a lot of it ends up being tuned out as we make dinner, fold laundry or dwell on some work or financial issue that's really holding our attention. 

I'm not there yet, but I hear there's an age when the kids stop talking (at least you don't hear everything anymore), and I've heard my friends who have children in this group long for the days when they actually knew what was going on. It's hard for me to think that I'll be there soon, but I will be, and right now I can't even realize how much I'll miss it.

So that's my goal for 2009 -- making time for the face-to-face real listening. I'm glad I didn't change the station too soon to hear it.