Listening to your mother

When I was pregnant with my son, I was working at a company located about an hour away from where I was living. I would sit in the car and sing along to the radio, secure in the fact that my son was the only one who could hear me and he wouldn't judge me for being out of tune.

At the time, I realized how important it was for my son to hear my voice (muffled though it was) and I was happy to spend time that I would normally be stewing in traffic focusing on bonding with him instead.

What I didn't know was that even today, my voice causes a special reaction in my son's brain. That's right, science has discovered that Mommy's voice lights up more areas of emotion, rewards and recognition than any other voices. This is true even when a child only hears a one-second sample of their Mom's voice.

I'll keep this in mind as I read to my son at night, or when he sits in my lap and asks me to tell him a story. Maybe on some fundamental level it is more than the story that he wants to hear - maybe he just wants to hear Mommy's voice.

I need to go call my Mom.

Tell me whose voice you love to listen to in the comments.