@Pandora – It is selective hearing (a.k.a. “listening”). When we are younger it is easier to passively hear what is happening around us and process and retain it (to varying degrees, within an individual’s own capacities); but as we get older, we find we need to focus our attention more and become more active listeners.
At any age if we’re preoccupied or distracted, we may miss something, only to mentally fill-in-the-blanks within a second, but as we get older, or if we’re fatigued, stressed, or even with some medical conditions or medications, our focus is diminished and slow the processing system down.
I’ve found a lot of women with young families come in complaining that they aren’t hearing, but their hearing test results come out normal. It typically is because of the multi-tasking lifestyle a mother leads, that it is difficult in that stage of life to have the luxury of sitting and listening without distraction or preoccupation.
~
@YARNLADY – It couldn’t hurt to get a hearing test. They are covered by Medicare and most insurance carriers. At the very least, you’ll have a baseline. You could also mention it to your primary physician and review any conditions you have or medications you are taking to see if those might contribute to difficulty concentrating or lack of focus, etc. Then you could discuss potential changes to what your taking, or whether you might be able to add any supplements to help improve mental alertness – but never supplement without discussing with your Doctor and/or pharmacist, because some supplements can interact with other medications or supplements you are taking already.