My son is 10 months old, which is also about the time they say babies can start to use and understand baby sign language. Because we are a family that values communication, we love the idea!
I signed us up for a class called “Sign, sing, and play“.
The light and the room were calm and brilliant, and I was inspired to take pictures to capture the beauty.
Here’s a picture I took of my son when we first arrived in the space.
I had never been to a baby sign language class before! Drawing on my prior experience of classes, I imagined a circle of parents holding their babies and singing songs together while signing… maybe even manipulating baby’s hands to form the signs.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The kids had a blast playing with toys, singing, and running around. Shira, the instructor, found moments everywhere to use signs… “dance”, “ball”, “more”, “friend”, “thank you”, “jump”! it was amazing how naturally she reinforced all of these concepts through natural play.
The really cool thing is that after she saw the pictures, Shira sent me a message and said,
“I loved the pictures so much. Really, I just am gushing over them. I usually don’t like candid pictures of me (poor body image) but these really were so awesome. Thank you!”
I replied with a smile, and told her I was so happy to be able to show her the joy I saw. I told her that often people are resistant to pictures because they don’t believe they are beautiful, and I always tell them “Just give me a chance to show you the joy I see!”
To that, she said, “I’m a believer! Hallelujah! LOL.”
And with that, just by showing up with my son and participating in an awesome class, I was able to show one vibrant and beautiful woman her own joy.
If I was at a party showing these pictures around to all of her friends, clients, colleagues, and fans I have no doubt they would say “oh yeah, that’s exactly how I think of her!”
Isn’t it funny how we so often fail to see the beauty in our own selves?
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