We taught our children some basic sign language before they could even talk.
They easily learned to give us cues using their hands to communicate how they were feeling by the time they were 6 months old. We didn't teach them much, but the few signs we did teach them could be used to express a multitude of feelings. We taught them four basic signs: more, all done, please and thank you.
Often times my children would sign things that made perfect sense to me
When my first born, Lucia, was about 8 months old, she pulled herself up to the couch where I was sitting with a bowl of ice cream. She put her hand up to her chest and rubbed her chest to say "please".
From her signing "please" I knew she was asking me to give her some of my ice cream. When I didn't share with her right away, she began bending her knees with a little bounce that helped her get up on her tipee-toes, over and over and she then began rubbing her chest almost violently.
She didn't have to scream or cry to get her point across to me. She was able to use her sign language to let me know that she really ,really, really, wanted me to share my ice cream with her. She continued to sign "please" over and over until I finally put a little bite on the spoon and right into her mouth.
She immediately smiled, put her hand to her chin and singed "thank you" which was quickly followed by touching her fingertips from one hand to the other repetitively as she then asked for "more".
I had no problem sharing my ice cream with her. At 8 months old children watch and learn from what we do. They mimic us and want to do everything like us. It made sense to me that she wanted to eat my ice cream, and how could I blame her for asking for more. I too always want more ice cream!
Other times my kids would sign something I couldn't identify with and wasn't sure how to respond
We were visiting my dad on Key Biscayne. Although she was only 6 months old, it was not her first trip to the island. I introduced the ocean to her at just weeks old when we made our first trip to my dad's house. I wanted her to love the ocean as much as I did when I was a kid and I never wanted her to be a stranger to the water. So I took her often and frequent.
As I held my little girl we ventured out into the ocean further and further and the waves got a little higher and higher.
Each time a wave came I'd hold her up so they'd splash on her chest and back.
But as they splashed some of the salt water would get on her face and she'd squint her eyes shut and pucker her lips.
Each time a wave came I'd hold her up so they'd splash on her chest and back.
But as they splashed some of the salt water would get on her face and she'd squint her eyes shut and pucker her lips.
I'd laugh and giggle and kiss her. I'd wipe the water off her face and let her know it was okay. If I was calm, she'd be calm, right?
Wrong.
It didn't take long before she threw her hands up in the air and began to twist her wrists back and forth.
Wrong.
It didn't take long before she threw her hands up in the air and began to twist her wrists back and forth.
That is the sign in sign language for "all done".
I was not ready for her to be "all done". And as her mother I should know what's best for her right? She wasn't in any real danger and I wanted her to love the ocean and if I didn't force her to stay out in the ocean with me then I was letting her know it was okay to quit and I'm not a quitter and I don't want her to be a quitter either and I wanted to stay in the water with her and show her that the ocean was good and not something to dislike or be afraid of and maybe if I just got her away from the waves she'd stop signing "all done" and she'd be okay...
I wiped the salt water out of her eyes again, gave her more kisses and told her not to worry, the water didn't hurt and I tried to laugh it off and looked for a smile in return. But her smile never came, as a matter of fact, the more I tried to convince her that it was ok the stronger her wrist flips got and the more intense she tried to let me she was "all done".
I was left with no choice but to respect her desire to get out of the ocean.
We made it back to the shore where she sat and happily played in the sand. And even when she tried to eat the sand, she still seemed happy that she wasn't in the ocean at that moment.
We went back out into the ocean in strides and each time she would hit a point where she would put her hands in the air and flip her wrists and tell us that she was "all done."
Respect the all done
My husband and I jokingly began to use the phrase "respect the all done" everytime my daughter motioned she was ready to get out of water. We have continued to say this phrase hundreds of times over the last 6 years as parents to remind us to listen to our children when they communicate their needs to us, even when we don't understand them.
You see, as a new mother, this was a valuable lesson for me. A lesson that taught me to listen to my children even when their needs for themselves might differ from what I thought they needed.
A lesson that my children's needs are often times different from my own.
A lesson which taught me that my children will communicate to me what their personal needs are based on their personal strengths and weaknesses.
And as their mother my strengths and weaknesses may be different from theirs. A lesson that I need to respect their needs the best I can when they express them to me even when I don't understand.
Because it might be possible that when I listen to their needs and hear them and meet them the best I can I am teaching them that I respect them.
And it is possible that if I respect them I am building up their confidence. And if their confidence is built up, it is possible they will walk through this world full of respect for themselves and for those around them.
My daughter is now 6 year old and I'm still learning to respect her boundaries in order to gain her trust.
On a normal day when I pick my kids up from school, they throw their lunch boxes and backpacks at me in the front seat and they pile in the car. Just picture a clown car where 29 clowns pile into a VW bug, that's what we look like at the pick up line.
And before they are even in their car seats or buckled, all 4 of them, full of excitement from their day at school start to talk at the same time. And with as much speed and volume as an auction announcer they each tell me what fun things they did at school.
Earlier this week was no different from any other day. They all fought for air as they spoke at the same time...
And I yelled for silence.
And just like every other school day. I gave permission to one child at a time to talk and tell me about their day. And one at a time they spoke while everyone respectfully listened.
And I yelled for silence.
And just like every other school day. I gave permission to one child at a time to talk and tell me about their day. And one at a time they spoke while everyone respectfully listened.
Olivia, my more sensitive child went first. Each day she likes to tell me how she made it through the school day without crying. She has a hard time speaking up and sharing how she feels with her teacher and peers, so I've been teaching her this year that her words are more powerful than her tears. She beamed with pride as she told me how she used her words at PE to tell her PE teacher she was upset she wasn't on her twin brother Lochman's team. Her teacher listened to her and placed her on the same team as her brother. And just as she was about to finish her story...
Lucia piped up and said...
"Well, I cried today at recess."
I think all of us in the car were a little surprised by that. She is the oldest child and the other children look up to her. She's a big first grader. Why would she cry at recess?
So I immediately replied, "What happened? Did you get hurt?
So I immediately replied, "What happened? Did you get hurt?
And for the first time in my parenting experience I heard these words and they rolled off her tongue as clear as day: "I don't want to tell you."
She no longer uses sign language like she did when she was 6 months old. Now at the age of 6 she speaks her words and her feelings with her voice.
But as I looked back in my review mirror waiting to hear the answer to my question if she got hurt, I made eye contact with her and listened as she spoke the same words again, "I don't want to tell you".
But even though I heard the words come out of her mouth, I envisioned a time before she could talk when she would throw her hands up in the air and rotate her wrists. "I'm all done".
I saw her, with her words, tell me she was all done.
And It took everything I had to respect that.
I asked a few more questions if her teacher or friends knew she was crying, did she go to the office, etc... She answered those questions with a little smile and seemed to be in good spirits, but stood firm on her "I don't want to tell you" why response.
We spent the next 10 minutes of the car ride home making up silly reasons as to why she might have cried at recess.
"A hawk scooped down out of a tree and landed on your head and its force knocked you over and you fell on a stick that got caught on your dress and when you got up your dress tore and you got embarrassed and hid behind a tree to cry."
She joined in the fun and made up silly reasons as to why she might have cried and we all laughed, but the facts and seriousness of the day was that my 6 year old wanted to let me know she cried at school but didn't want to give me any more information then that. She was "all done" sharing.
"A hawk scooped down out of a tree and landed on your head and its force knocked you over and you fell on a stick that got caught on your dress and when you got up your dress tore and you got embarrassed and hid behind a tree to cry."
She joined in the fun and made up silly reasons as to why she might have cried and we all laughed, but the facts and seriousness of the day was that my 6 year old wanted to let me know she cried at school but didn't want to give me any more information then that. She was "all done" sharing.
And as her mother, I had to respect that.
When she went to bed that night I told her I was sorry she had cried at school and I thanked her for sharing that with me. And I told her that I respected that she didn't want to tell me why. I told her some things are private and sometimes we need to process our feelings by ourselves before we share them. And of course I told her that if she ever needed to tell me why she cried that day or any day, I would always listen and as long as it is not harmful to anyone, I will always respect when she is done sharing.
I didn't tell her about the time when she was 6 months old and I respected that she was all done in the ocean. I didn't tell her that we got back in the water for longer periods of time each time before she'd throw up her hands and twist her wrists to say she was done again and we'd get back out.
Because the thing is that now at the age of 6, I can't keep her out of the water.
She spent last summer in the pool and the ocean, upset every time we had to get out of the water to go home. All winter long she has begged me to take her to the covered pools and asked when the neighborhood pool will open again.
She asks me daily if she is finally old enough to be on the swim team and dreams of a day that she can swim with the dolphins.
Her goal in life is to be a dolphin trainer.
Because the thing is that now at the age of 6, I can't keep her out of the water.
She spent last summer in the pool and the ocean, upset every time we had to get out of the water to go home. All winter long she has begged me to take her to the covered pools and asked when the neighborhood pool will open again.
She asks me daily if she is finally old enough to be on the swim team and dreams of a day that she can swim with the dolphins.
Her goal in life is to be a dolphin trainer.
It is my hope for my children that in the same way Lucia learned to trust the water by having her boundaries respected, that she and all my children will learn to trust me and others around them with their feelings as they have their personal boundaries respected.
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