Tag - Josiah

The Courage in God With Us

December 8, 2018

In the middle of October I was driving our two older boys to the first practice for our church’s children’s Christmas program.

Elijah had auditioned a week or so earlier, and having earned a part in the cast, he was especially excited.

Josiah, on the other hand, was acting rather miserable. We’d had a busy week, and at not-quite-six-years-old, he usually needs more rest than his older brother, so I thought he might just be tired. But when I asked him what was wrong, he surprised me by saying that he didn’t want to go to practice.

I reminded him that he needed to practice in order to be in the program, but he said,

“I don’t want to be in the program.”

Again I was surprised because at the auditions, even though he was too young to really try out for a big part, he’d eagerly followed Elijah in to the other room when they asked for people who wanted to audition for a solo.

So, I dug a little deeper with him.

“Why don’t you want to be in the program? I think you’d have fun.”

To which he replied, with a little quiver in his voice, “It would make me nervous.”

Knowing that Josiah is my more sensitive child, one who is more shy and struggles at points with confidence, his fear hurt my heart.

Because I knew he would do so well – he’d try hard, learn the songs and motions, and have a great time being a part of it all – if he only gave it a chance.

So this is what I told him:

“It’s okay to be nervous or a little afraid. I’m pretty sure everyone will be. It’s a big thing to get on stage in front of lots of people.

But guess what? Sometimes it’s good to do things that we’re afraid of. Because you know the good thing about being nervous or afraid? It gives you a chance to be brave. You don’t need courage when you’re doing something you aren’t scared to do. So it’s okay if you’re nervous because I know you have courage.

Plus, when we decide to be brave and do something scary, it gives us a chance to trust God, and we give God a chance to prove that He’s right there with us, to help us do what we can’t do by ourselves.”

Josiah gave me a quiet “Okay,” and we went to practice.

I didn’t realize the impact of our little conversation, though, until the next week at practice, when he was one of the first kids to volunteer to sing a small line in one of the big numbers. His excitement and pride over being given 3 words to sing by himself (although he does sing them 7 times throughout the song) was precious, and his diligence to practice and work on singing louder and clearer – yes, just those 3 words – has made me so proud of him.

It’s also made me think about how so much of the Christmas story required bravery and courage. Each person who was a part of the events of Jesus’s birth had to decide to trust God even when they were nervous, afraid, intimidated, or even in danger. Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men – God called them all to rather overwhelming tasks. They bravely chose to be obedient, to submit to God’s plan, to have faith that He would be right there with them to help them do what they couldn’t do on their own.

And yet, in some ways, Jesus showed the greatest courage of all.

While I don’t think God actually fears anything, and yes, He knew the outcome and the reason, He also knew what it would cost Him. Humbling Himself, the King of Kings, to leave the gloriousness of Heaven to come dwell among us – the lost, sinful, and broken–in our fallen world. He came loving us and longing for relationship with us, knowing that despite all He would sacrifice, He would be “despised and rejected” by so many (Isaiah 53:3).

And still He came because He wanted to be Immanuel, God with us. (Matthew 1:23)

With us – His Holy Spirit in us – so that when we face challenges, trials, or heartache, He can strengthen us, equip us, and guide us like never before, helping us do things that we can’t do on our own.

With us, so that when He calls us to follow Him, we know He’ll never leave us or forsake us, and we can trust in His good plans for us (even if they intimidate us some times).

With us, so that we can know Him, His grace, and forgiveness and have an eternal relationship with Him, and we can boldly approach the throne as children of God.

With us, so that we have the power to be His witnesses, sharing His love with others as courageously as He did.

And “with us,” so that when a tender-hearted little five-year-old chooses to step out and be brave despite his nerves on the day of his first Christmas program, God will be right there beside him, ready to prove His presence with overwhelming peace and confidence, strengthening Josiah’s faith and trust in the One he’s so proudly singing about and celebrating.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

Feature photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

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The Tale of a Tooth & Noticing the Big Things in Our Kids’ Lives

April 7, 2018

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The Tale of a Tooth & Noticing the Big Things in Our Kids' Lives - Ever have a parenting day when something kind of big flies under your radar? I did. Thankfully it helped me notice something even bigger. And it all started with a tooth!

Have you ever had one of those parenting days where you finally catch something that’s been flying under your overworked parenting radar?

Not big, major things, but just, like, “my child has been in those clothes for two days straight” (that has happened – thankfully it was one of the kids who stays home all day!) Or “what do you mean you haven’t been feeding the dog as much as you were supposed to?” (this has also happened and explained why our dog kept grabbing food off the counter that week!)

Well, I had another one of those moments recently.

PART 1 – HOW DID I MISS THAT?

On Monday night, Brad called me into the bathroom where our boys were getting ready for bed, and he asked me, “Have you seen this? Josiah has an adult tooth coming in behind his bottom front baby teeth!”

What? No! I had not seen that.

And when I did, I said, “How have we missed this? It’s almost halfway in already!?!” (Not exaggerating!)

Sure, Josiah usually brushes his teeth by himself, but Brad or I usually double check them just to make sure he did a good job. Somehow, in the last few weeks of life – planning and hosting Josiah’s 5th birthday party and planning and hosting Easter and all the Easter weekend stuff – I hadn’t noticed that big tooth coming in!

See that big tooth behind his baby teeth??? (And that dirty face…haha)

Not going to lie… Kind of felt like a bad mom…like a too busy mom…like a “what else have I been missing” mom. Not a good feeling.

Thankfully, Josiah was just excited about the prospect of losing his first tooth soon. (He just turned 5!!!)

So with some lingering mom guilt but a happy little boy, I went to bed, wondering if we should contact our dentist about it. I figured if the adult tooth was coming in, the baby teeth would loosen soon, right?

The story could have ended here, and I could share about how God whispered encouragement to my heart that night and how I felt okayish about not noticing the tooth sooner. And I stopped worrying about whether I missed something else or not. I could tell you, moms & dads, that we all miss little details sometimes. Sometimes we even miss big ones. But “God gives grace to the humble.” (Proverbs 3:34)

And parenting – it’s a humbling experience. I don’t think we realize it when we’re starting out, but whew – we learn quickly that we have a lot to learn. And that we need God if we’re going to make a good go of it.

That’d be a nice way to end my little “mom moment,” but then you’d miss the rest of the story, some of which actually is kind of entertaining in hindsight.

PART 2 – LOSING A TOOTH

Now that I had noticed the tooth, I wanted to keep an eye on it. (You know, be a “good mom” 😉 )

So, the next day at nap time, I asked Josiah if I could check those little teeth.

Sure enough, both of them wiggled easily. That made him very excited, and me, well, a little sad. The thought of my little guy losing his sweet little perfect smile and entering into that awkward time of snaggled-tooth grins and half smiles for the next few years…sigh.

Easter Sunday

I definitely wanted to make sure we grabbed some good pictures soon.

Thankfully, I’d already gotten a few over Easter weekend because just before dinner that evening, Josiah went into the living room, and a second later we heard a thud and a high-pitched scream. Apparently, he had tripped over the boys’ play carpet and hit his face on Isaiah’s booster seat (not sure why it was in there).

I met him halfway to the kitchen, and when I saw his mouth bleeding, I knew.

One baby tooth was missing.

As I led him to the bathroom, trying to calm him down, he helpfully spat that (bloody) little tooth into my hand. #glamorousmomlife

In the chaos that followed, I set the tooth by the bathroom sink and had Brad getting me a wet rag to clean Josiah’s face and Elijah fetching us a cup for water for his brother to swish with.

It took a few seconds for Josiah to settle down, both because he’d nearly bit a hole through his lip (ouch!) and because he was in a panic about losing that tooth. (That was NOT how he’d planned for that to happen.)

That red spot is where he hit his tooth into his lip!

As I tried to soothe him and handed him the water cup that Elijah had placed by the sink, I glanced over at the tooth. Only it wasn’t there.

I managed to catch a glimpse of it as it went down the drain. (Good job, Mom! *sigh*)

Before Josiah could spit into the sink and lose that tooth for good, I shoved him over to the toilet so he could spit there. (Yeah, it was a gross few minutes in our household.)

And as if the insanity wasn’t enough at the moment with him still bleeding and crying, Brad yanking things out from under the sink to rescue the tooth, Elijah just getting in the way in our tiny bathroom, and Isaiah happily trying to get to the plunger and toilet brush – when he leaned over to spit, Josiah tilted his full cup of water with him, spilling it all over the floor in the process.

At that point, I just laughed. I looked at my husband in disbelief, and all I could say was, “Seriously.”

Shaking my head, I ushered Elijah out into the living room to play with Isaiah, while I cleaned up the floor and Josiah, and Brad successfully retrieved Josiah’s first lost (then found, then lost and found again) baby tooth.

Once a semblance of order was restored, I snapped a few pictures on my phone of Josiah’s new smile, and we went back to finish dinner.

Again THIS could be the end of the tooth saga, and it would be enough. We’ve had our “encouraging” heart-sharing and a bonus funny “chaotic family” anecdote. You can all relate to some part of it and have a little laugh at my crazy night.

But…there’s a little more.

PART 3 – GROWING UP

As the night wore on, I noticed that Josiah was no longer excited about his tooth coming out. He didn’t want me to send any pictures of him to Grandma (although he did tell her when she called). He didn’t even want us to talk about it. And when I asked him if I could tell family about it via Facebook, he was adamant that he didn’t want people to know. So I respected his privacy. (He did give me permission to write this story, though, since it has been a few days.)

For one, his mouth was sore from the fall and from where his tooth almost went through his lip. I think that kind of scared him, and it hurt.

Secondly, I think he was disappointed. He didn’t get to wiggle the tooth and anticipate it coming out, at least not for longer than a few hours. And he didn’t get to try to pull it on his own.

In addition to that, he was feeling self-conscious, knowing that he would look different now. He’s the boy who doesn’t want to mess up his hair once we’ve fixed it in the morning, and he’s always so particular about what he wants to wear. So, having a missing tooth and a new smile were going to take some getting used to.

The last reason, though, surprised me, and it didn’t come out until the next day.

When I checked his other tooth, the neighboring bottom front tooth that also was loose, got knocked in the fall, and is now barely hanging on itself, he said, “I just want to stay a little kid.”

Awww, my sweet little boy.

While kids usually are all excited to get bigger and grow up, if I remember from when I was little, it CAN be a bit intimidating, too.

For Josiah, in the last month he registered for kindergarten, which he is somewhat nervous about, and he turned 5. Then this month, he’s suddenly losing teeth.

To us, as adults, that might not seem like much, but to a little guy – that’s a lot of transitions.

And while I might not have noticed that big tooth coming in, I can make sure that I notice these big feelings that Josiah is navigating and do my best to help him adjust to the changes, as quickly as they are coming.

So, although we would have taken this tooth thing even slower had he not fallen, we’re taking it as slowly as we can because I don’t mind keeping him a little kid a little bit longer.

UPDATE: Even before I could get this post finished, that second little front bottom tooth decided it was done, too. Josiah didn’t even have to work at it or try. It came out when he started eating dinner last night. This time, though, Josiah was thrilled!

For tips from a dentist on what do to when pulling baby teeth, you can check out this article, The Dos & Don’ts of Pulling Baby Teeth.

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6 Fun Ways to Entertain Your Kids with Nothing But Their Imaginations

March 24, 2018

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6 Fun Ways to Entertain Your Kids with Only Their Imaginations - Sometimes you need to keep your kids occupied, and these simple games & activities are perfect for engaging their creativity and getting them interacting with every one in the family.

Throughout the course of your parenting, there will be innumerable times that your kids are “bored.” Even though they are still fairly young, our boys claim boredom on a regular basis.

For the most part, I just answer, “That’s okay,” because there really isn’t anything wrong with them not being totally entertained all the time. They need “bored” time. It encourages them to be creative, to go find something to do – draw a picture, read a book, day dream, take a nap (they NEVER pick that one!).

However, there are also times when my boys being genuinely bored can lead to trouble, such as when we’re waiting in a doctor’s office for an appointment that was an hour ago. Or if we’re sitting at a restaurant, ready to eat but it’s taking a while for our food to come (this is especially dangerous when one of your children is notorious for getting hangry…yeah, that’s not pretty.)

Basically anytime they are trying to be good but are in a situation that kids just don’t function well in – that’s when I need some surefire engaging activities to keep my boys entertained and distracted so their “boredom” doesn’t become restless craziness or frustrated fighting.

I know that a simple answer is to just hand over a device – my smart phone, their tablet – but honestly, that’s not what I want my kids turning to constantly. With as addictive as electronic devices can be (and you know it’s true…chances are that you are reading this on your mobile…), I don’t want to encourage them as my children’s (or my own) first option when there is some down time.

So, what do I do then when we have to wait patiently in the car for Daddy as he runs in to pick up something at the store, or when we’re on a two-hour road trip?

Here’s a peek into my arsenal of simple ways that I entertain my boys with nothing other than our imaginations. These no-prep games and activities encourage creativity, thought, and communication, as well as ensuring that we’re interacting with each other as a family rather than isolating ourselves in screen time.

(This post contains affiliate links which means that, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission when you use the links. See my full disclosure for details.)

1. “I Spy”/”Bee, Bee, Bumblebee” – This one is a classic. My parents and grandparents played it with me when I was little, and now it’s one of the boys’ go-to time-killing games. You simply have the person who is “it” describe something they can see from where they are, just using the colors that it’s made up of (or you can describe it other ways, too, if your rules allow). Depending on which one you grew up with, the rhymes either go, “I spy with my little eye something that is…” or “Bee, bee, bumblebee. I see something you don’t see, and it is…” Everyone takes turns guessing what is seen. Whoever guesses it first, gets to be the next “seer.”

This game also gets kids to look for details in their often-times mundane surroundings, teaching them that the everyday world probably isn’t as boring as they might think.

2. “Would You Rather” – I’m sure you’ve heard of this conversation starter before (there is even a board game based on it). It has become one of our boys’ favorites, and we often play it during dinner. They love the idea of coming up with unique choices to offer us, such as “Would you rather have no furniture in your house or no bathroom?” or “Would you rather eat only green food or only red food for the rest of your life?” Of course, with boys, their questions can veer into the absurd or disgusting, but as long as they avoid potty humor and excessive grossness or anything inappropriate, we give them creative license.

Not only does this activity make us think as we answer the questions and help us get to know each other a bit better, it also challenges the person asking the question because sometimes coming up with a really good question can be tricky.

Here are some question ideas to get you started.

3. “Charades” – This pantomiming game always makes me think of times when the power went out when we were younger. That, or large gatherings, either with my family at my grandparents’, with friends in youth group, or my dad’s days as a clown and leading a clown ministry (Charades is great for improving improvisational skills).

While this boredom-buster requires a bit more space (since you have to act out what you want the others to guess) and tends to creates more noise (as others call out guesses), it usually produces lots of laughter and silliness, too. For our boys, we keep what their acting out simple for now (animals, everyday activities, etc). As they get older, though, we’ll test their talents with harder words and phrases.

Need some help coming up with ideas? Here’s a list of kid-appropriate charade clues.

4. “Story Tellers” – By far, this is Josiah’s favorite game to play at dinnertime or in the car or any other time. The rules are simple. We make up a story together, with each person taking turns contributing one sentence as a time. This always leads to a…unique… story, as each family members’ personality, preferences, and story-telling style becomes apparent pretty quickly. 🙂

Josiah has a tendency to tell stories with animal characters, Elijah likes to add drama and action, and Brad has an affinity for goofiness and puns, while my job seems to be to keep the story moving along to some kind of happy ending.

The only issue we’ve had with this game is when the initial storyteller starts the tale with a definite plot or idea he wants to stick to, but others can’t read his mind or purposely take it in a different direction. (Brothers…)

5. “Narrating Real Life” –This diversion takes “people watching” to a new level because you either make up their stories about what they are doing or why or provide the “voice-over” to their conversations.

This is a little safer to play when you aren’t really near the people, so preferably when you’re sitting in a car or maybe from far across the park because you don’t want to encourage your kids to point and stare or be seen as the creepers just watching a person. Hahaha.

6. “It Could Be” – Another activity borrowed from my dad’s improv training, this exercise encourages brainstorming and creatively looking at random, ordinary objects. Just grab anything, and start thinking of what else it could be used for (even if just pretend).

For example, a baseball cap can be a cup, a pot, a butterfly net, a catcher’s mask, and more. (Just think of how many things kids can see when you give them big empty cardboard box!)

So, there you go – Six simple ways to interact with your kids and entertain them with only your imaginations.

WHAT ARE SOME GAMES OR ACTIVITIES YOU DO WITH YOUR KIDS WHEN THEY NEED ENTERTAINED?

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How We Changed Our Family Atmosphere with One Question

February 23, 2018

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How We Changed Our Family Atmosphere With One Question - Life in Lape Haven. The worst part of our special family evening became the best, most memorable part with just one simple question that changed the atmosphere in our family.

This year for Valentine’s Day, my husband and I had originally planned to do something together during the day since he was off. However, since our regular babysitters were booked (meaning both sets of grandparents were not available), we decided instead to do something as a family once Elijah was out of school.

From the moment we picked him up, our oldest had a bad attitude. He was all for going out to eat, but he did NOT want to go anywhere else (like, say, Hobby Lobby, which was going to be a treat for Mommy).

And the complaining started.

After being rather excited to surprise him with a special afternoon, I was frustrated and irritated with his lack of gratitude.

So, I tried explaining to him that Mommy and Daddy were trying to do something nice as a family, that we wanted to have a fun night all together, and that by complaining and whining about what we might do, he was not exactly showing his appreciation.

I reminded Elijah of the sweet way he had started my Valentine’s Day by creating a cute scavenger hunt for me through the downstairs, leading to some “flowers” he had made. I asked him how he would have felt had I not wanted to follow his clues or just took them down.

To his credit, Elijah realized how he was making us feel, and he apologized.

I thought everything was going to be good after that.

But then…he started pestering Josiah, who rarely backs down from a fight. And suddenly they were arguing and being nasty to each other, and I just wanted to turn around and go home.

So much for a special Valentine’s Day together as a family.

My husband, however, pulled out a question for the boys that had an immediate effect on the entire atmosphere in the car, giving hope to this discouraged Mommy.

He got them quieted long enough to ask Elijah, “What is something you love about Josiah?”

Of course, being a big brother, Elijah was tempted to take the teasing route, but Daddy headed him off, and answered the question himself.

Brad gave examples of why he loved not only Josiah, but Elijah, Isaiah, and Mommy, too.

“I love Josiah because he can be very sweet. I love Elijah because he is creative. I love Isaiah because he likes to cuddle. I love Mommy because she’s intelligent.”

Then I added my “what I loves” to the conversation.

“I love Elijah because he is curious. I love Josiah because he is compassionate. I love Isaiah because he has a funny sense of humor. I love Daddy because he works hard to take care of us.”

Josiah eagerly jumped in to share his.

“I love Elijah because he is nice. (Josiah is forgiving and quick to forget…Haha) I love Isaiah because he is cute. I love Mommy because she helps me. I love Daddy because he plays games with me.”

Finally Elijah was ready to prove that he could come up with his own answers to the question as well.

“I love Josiah because he is good at SurvivalCraft (a video game they play). I love Daddy because he’s silly. I love Isaiah because he’s fun. I love Mommy because she cooks good food.”

And suddenly, the boys weren’t fighting, but rather happily telling each other and us all the different things they could think of that they loved about everyone. We didn’t just stop after we each took a turn, but let them continue as long as they would.

It was part game – the challenge to see what new reason they could come up with – and part fun curiosity – they were delighted to hear what everyone else loved about them.

My Valentine “flowers” from Elijah. His thoughtfulness is just another reason I love him!

In the busyness of every day family life, it can be easy to forget to speak out those things to our children and spouse. We’re quick to correct faults and criticize, especially when things get stressful or overwhelming.

However, taking the time to not just say, “I love you,” but to list the wonderful qualities and traits in our loved ones, is edifying both to them and us. I definitely felt more loved and appreciated when my boys spoke specific things that they cherished in their mommy. Then as I thought about what I wanted to say about my husband and for each of my boys, I was reminded anew of what precious, unique, and wonderful little people our children are and how blessed I am with my husband.

Did our boys fight again that night? Of course. They’re kids. However, it wasn’t in the same nasty tones as before.

We were able to spend our evening together knowing that each person in our family was loved very much by everyone else. Of all the special things we did together for our Valentine’s night that was the most special part of all.

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Why We Love Baby Sign Language & 6 Tips for Teaching It to Your Little One

January 27, 2018

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Why We Love Baby Sign Language & 6 Tips for Teaching It to Your Little One - Life in Lape Haven. Baby sign language is an easy, fun, and helpful way to teach your baby to communicate before they can even talk. All three of our children have learned signs and used them before they were one year old. Here's how you can teach your child signing, too.

When I was pregnant with Elijah, my paternal grandmother gave me two books about how to teach your baby to communicate using sign language. (One even came with flash cards.)

I’ll be honest. At first, I just looked at her. I’d never heard of such a thing.

But Grandma Charlotte was a pretty smart, well-read lady. She’d also taken classes in sign language a few years earlier so that she could communicate with a couple of family members who were hearing impaired, including my cousin’s little girl who is deaf. She knew how easily children could pick it up and how helpful it would be.

So, I read the books, learned some of the basic signs, and taught them to my husband and our parents.

When Elijah was a few months old, I started using the signs as we went through the day, whenever it applied to what we were doing. I’d say the word as I signed it, and soon it became a habit for me.

As Elijah got a little older, we could tell he understood what the signs meant, and, somewhere around 8-9 months, I think, he began signing back.

If you’ve never seen a baby use sign language, it’s kind of amazing – and super cute!

Suddenly, he could ask for a “drink” or let us know when he was “done” or wanted “more.”

We didn’t have to struggle as much with figuring out what he wanted or needed, and Elijah wasn’t whiny or frustrated…unless he was told that he couldn’t have something he wanted. 🙂 Learning “no” is never fun, whether it’s verbal or in sign.

As my family saw how easily Elijah used his signs and how helpful it was, they started using them with his younger cousins.

My grandma was especially proud of our success, and of course, she enjoyed signing to him and seeing him respond happily.

When Josiah came along, there was no question that we would teach him those basic signs as well, this time with Elijah’s help. Sadly, my Grandma Charlotte passed away when Josiah was only 5 months old, so she never really got to see how he benefitted from the communication tool that was her idea.

Now four years later, here we are, teaching a third little boy to use his hands to talk to Mommy, Daddy, and the rest of his family.

Isaiah’s response to sign language was almost immediate because the first one he learned was “milk.” If I wasn’t completely ready to nurse him, but showed him the sign for it, he would get upset pretty quickly! And there were times when I’m pretty sure he signed “milk,” even though he seemed too young to be able to.

Now that he’s at the age where he can mimic our signs easily, it’s been so fun to watch his understanding blossom. He’s been very quick to let us know when he’s “all done” eating, and he loves to tell you when something is “hot,” like the heater or his toy stove with the light-up burner. Haha.

But he picked up a new sign even more quickly last week. After only a couple of demonstrations and connecting the sign with what it meant, he was ready to use “cookie” as often as possible. 🙂

When others see us using signs with our boys, I’ve had them ask me if signing discouraged my children from talking when they were little. Since they could get their message across pretty clearly with just some gestures, after all, why would they need to use words?

Our experience, though, has been that both of our older boys started talking fairly early and easily. While this may be in part because I talked to them ALL THE TIME and prompted them to use words once they were able to, I think that teaching them sign language actually encouraged them to try different kinds of communication because they knew we were paying attention to what they “said.”

Another benefit I’ve found it being able to tell my little ones something without having to say a word, which is especially nice in church when you’re trying to be quiet, or in a noisy place, where your kids might have trouble hearing you. (Being able to sign “no” to even an older child across the room is awesome, especially when you couple it with “the look.”)

If you’d like to begin teaching your child sign language, here are a few tips from our signing experience with our three boys.

6 Tips For Teaching Baby Sign to Your Little One:

1. Start Early

Begin signing even before your baby can physically and developmentally copy them, maybe around 3-4 months old. You’ll get into the habit, & they’ll be learning. (Even if your child is older, you can introduce signing at any age!)

2. Don’t Use Too Many

Pick a few basic signs that you’ll use most often and most effectively and start there. We did ones like Milk, Eat, More, Done, Bath, and Change. You can add others later (Mom, Dad, Please, Thank You, Potty, Dog, Cat, and tons more), just like you build your baby’s verbal vocabulary a little at a time. Here are 21 words you can sign easily.

3. Be Consistent

Use the same sign and word each time and teach your spouse and other family or caretakers to use them, too. (Using standard ASL signs is the best for consistency with others who sign.) We all learn better with repetition. (Our kids can even use their signs in the nursery at church. Several families have taught their children signs, so most of the regular nursery volunteers are pretty fluent in baby sign as well. How cool is that?)

4. Sign in Context

Use the sign when you’re doing the action. Signing “change” makes more sense when you’ve got your little one down and ready to change their diaper, rather than when you’re in the living room and think they might have a dirty diaper. 🙂

5. Don’t Expect Perfection

When your baby starts to sign back, it’s most likely not going to be perfectly executed. Keep in mind your little one is still developing those fine motor skills, so pay attention to anything that even closely resembles a specific sign and respond to it.

6. Keep Signing

Once your child starts talking, there’s no rule that says you have to stop using and teaching them signs. Not only is knowing another language fun and beneficial for challenging their minds (and ours), it will create an instant connection for them with anyone they know/meet who also signs, some who may use sign language as their main form of communication.

Need more help getting started? Here are some fun resources for learning and teaching Baby Sign Language.

(Some of these links are affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you use the links. You can see my full disclosure for details.)

VIDEOS

One of our favorite sign instructors is Rachel Coleman of Two Little Hands and Signing Time. (We even used her “Potty Time” app when we were potty training Josiah.) Here are just a few of the video available on YouTube.

Baby Signs:

The Potty Time Song:

Best of Two Little Hands TV, featuring signs for foods, clothing, ABCs, colors, and more:

BOOKS

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How We Made Our Family Vacation About A Little More

June 28, 2017

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Life in Lape Haven: How We Made Our Family Vacation About A Little More. A simple idea on the day we began our trip gave our vacation an extra focus on kindness toward others.

Last week our family went on a little getaway, the first with all three of our boys. Since we weren’t sure how well 6-month-old Isaiah would travel (he won’t take a bottle or pacifier at all, which has been fun), we knew we might have to make more frequent stops. That’s why we decided to vacation a little closer to home, picking an area within a 5- to 6-hour drive from us. We also decided to go for only 4 days.

In preparation for this grand adventure, I made an extensive packing list, stocked up on car-friendly snacks, printed out some drive-time scavenger hunt sheets and other traveling activities for kids, and created an on-my-visor behavior clip chart to help our older two boys stay on track.

(You can read more about how that worked and get additional tips and tricks for traveling with kids from me and other moms in this post on The Merry Momma.)

The on-visor behavior clip chart…on a string.

The night before our road trip started, Brad was praying with our boys at bedtime. Toward the end of the prayer, he asked that God would use our trip to bless not only us but others.

And God gave me an idea immediately of a very easy way to accomplish that and make our family vacation about more than just us.

The morning of our trip, we loaded the car, got the boys settled, and I hung the clip chart string on my visor. Then I put 3 large wire clothespins on the left corner of my visor. Even Brad looked at me in confusion.

“What are those for?” Elijah asked.

So I explained.

“These three clips are for the three big days of our vacation. Last night Daddy prayed that our trip would bless others, right? Well, each day our family will do a random act of kindness or find someone we can help. When we’ve completed our task for the day, we’ll take a clip down. Until we do, though, these clips will remind us to be on the lookout for ways to be kind, encouraging, or helpful to other people.”

My boys, especially Elijah, were excited about the plan, and they began coming up with ways we could bless someone.

Over the next few days, amid the excitement of hotel stays, daily adventures, and eating out, I was surprised by how often my boys (or my husband or I) would mention an idea for a random act of kindness. Their suggestions weren’t always feasible, but at least I knew they were busy thinking of others.

So what DID we do?

Enjoying our treats at Dairy Queen (note my surprised look as Isaiah tried to steal my shake)

Our first fun act of kindness was passing out ice cream bars to a group of construction workers staying at our hotel. They had been sitting outside when we took the boys out to the pool early in the evening, and they were still there later when we were headed out to get a treat at the nearby Dairy Queen. Before we left the restaurant, we grabbed a pack of ice cream bars, just in case they were still outside when we returned.

When they questioned us about the gift, we just told them that we wanted to do something nice for others as a family and show God’s love. I’m not sure who enjoyed the surprise more – our boys, who were very excited to share, or the men and ladies who were delighted with not only the ice cream, but seeing our boys’ excitement to share with them.

Dinner at the diner.

We earned our next day’s clip in a more subtle way. Since much of our day had been spent exploring a state park (and on a weekday), we didn’t interact with many other people until we went to dinner. Throughout our meal, I noticed that our waitress seemed a bit stressed, and while our boys weren’t behaving badly, they were energetic enough to add a little more chaos to the atmosphere.

We didn’t try to initiate much of a conversation with her or find out how her day had been going because, honestly, when you’re wrangling three little boys during mealtime, it’s much kinder sometimes to focus on keeping your children’s mess and noise to a minimum and just let people work. But I knew that she should be on the receiving end of a little kindness before we left. Even though I didn’t mention my observations to Brad, halfway through the meal, he quietly suggested to me that we leave her a substantial tip (far more than just 20%) as our kindness for the day. So we made sure to express our appreciation for her attentiveness and excellent service both verbally and monetarily.

Family selfie, blocking most of the view of the beautiful mountains behind us.

Our third clip…well, we actually didn’t get to do anything for our last clip, which really bothered our boys. The last day of our trip was spent mostly traveling home, and we didn’t even go through a drive-through, so the easy idea of paying for the person behind us couldn’t even be used. When we did stop for dinner, there weren’t any other people in the restaurant until we were leaving.

However, I don’t feel as though it was a failure because, again, my boys were looking hard for opportunities to help others (whenever we were around other people. Haha). And I know that the two clips that we used were definitely ones that God directed us to do.

So despite only accomplishing two out of the three things, getting my boys to think of others often during our family vacation and knowing that we were obedient in doing what God asked us to when the opportunities were there, to me means that we were successful in making our vacation about much more than ourselves.

And those three clips will be staying in the car so that we can continually be reminded to think of others and look for ways to be kind, helpful, and encouraging every day.

(Next vacation I plan to be much better prepared to continue this tradition, so check out the links and resources below that I’ve found with ideas we can use.)

Random Acts of Kindness

101 of the Best Random Acts of Kindness Ideas

30 Random Acts of Kindness to Do with Your Kids

Super Easy Act of Kindness for Kids (We are TOTALLY doing this soon!)

67 Awesome Random Acts of Kindness for Kids

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY SPREAD KINDNESS?

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How We Made Our Family Vacation About A Little More

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