Selective Hearing?

Why is it that when your child lets out a scream from the other room, it's the wife (with the broken ankle) that has to either A, get up and wobble into the livingroom to see that the child is okay, or B, yell at her husband to go check on her because he appears to have not noticed the loud, blood-curdling scream?
Another thing, and I know all you wives can relate to this... at this very moment, he is sitting in the livingroom reading the newspaper while these girls are running around like crazy, asking me to wrap blankets around their necks like Action Heroes and asking me to get them juice. Oh yeah, and beating each other up too. Did I mention that I have been catering to them ALL day?
Is it really that you guys cannot hear, choose not to hear, or I don't know what... please tell me.