"I can't listen to this bullshit right now."

This has a couple problems. A better version would be:

"I'm not interested in that right now"

or

"I don't want to listen to that right now"

These are more true and more effective.

Why? All of these are attempts to express yourself and be honest, but the first version has two issues:

1. You pass judgement on the topic.
2. You say "I can't" instead of "I want".

Calling the topic bad or "bullshit" is irrelevant because the truth is something different. Whether the topic is actually bad is besides the point because the truth is you don't want to hear it, regardless of whether it's objectively good or bad.

Saying you "can't" listen is probably not true. You can probably make yourself listen, and so "I can't" would be untrue. Just directly say what you want.

Many people miscommunicate like this, by avoiding directly saying what they want or don't want, bringing up other reasons. But just know that it's possible to let your child down and still be nice about it. It's all about tone.

Have a kind tone, and say the pure truth directly: "Son, I'm not really interested in hearing about that Minecraft stuff right now". This might be a letdown, or it might not be, depending on the lightness of your tone. And this won't destroy your child's self esteem because you can still listen other times.

On a good note, you did something really well:

• Scoping to "right now" because feelings are transitory.

"I can't listen to this bullshit right now."

This statement has a couple problems. A more effective statement would be:

"I'm not interested in that right now"

or

"I don't want to listen to that right now"

Why? While all of these are attempts to express yourself and be honest, the first version has two issues:

1. You pass judgement on the topic.
2. You say "I can't" instead of "I want".

Calling the topic bad is irrelevant because the truth is something different. Whether the topic is actually bad is besides the point because the truth is you don't want to hear it, regardless of whether it's objectively good or bad.

Saying you "can't" listen is probably not true. You can probably make yourself listen, and so "I can't" would be untrue. Just directly say what you want.

Many people miscommunicate like this, by avoiding directly saying what they want or don't want, bringing up other reasons. But just know that it's possible to let your child down and still be nice about it. It's all about tone.

Have a kind tone, and say the pure truth directly: "Son, I'm not really interested in hearing about that Minecraft stuff right now". This might be a letdown, or it might not be, depending on the lightness of your tone. And this won't destroy your child's self esteem because you can still listen other times.

On a good note, you did something really well:

• Scoping to "right now" because feelings are transitory.