FeelingWow! Magazine

Your baby is crying and you don’t know why. That’s because babies can’t talk. Oh, yes they can. They talk all the time. They just don’t use English.

Don’t tell me that when your baby’s eyes are bulging out and she’s turning blue in the face from screaming so hard she can’t even catch her breath that she isn’t trying to tell you something! You’ve been there, Mom. All those baby tears are frustration (hers, not yours) directed your way, and you just don’t get it!

You see, this can be summed up in the famous words uttered by Strother Martin as Captain in that great 1967 film “Cool Hand Luke:” What we got here is…..failure to communicate.” Okay, if you’re a new mom you probably weren’t alive in 1967, but you get the point. You see your baby doesn’t speak English. She speaks Bbllfftt.

What if you both spoke the same language? Here’s a novel idea: Why don’t you teach your baby sign language?

Oh, sure, says you: Teach my baby to speak sign language. Well, I’ll just schedule it right after her classical Greek lessons, but before her quantum physics course. Thank you for the suggestion and have a great day.

Hang on. Don’t get your britches in a knot, there, Mom of the Year. It just so happens Wendy Jensen says you can teach your baby sign language. Wendy taught hers, and more importantly, she has taught hundreds of other moms to teach their kids sign language!

Well of course you’re skeptical — but I’m telling you that she did it. In fact not just Wendy, but thousands of other moms out there. And these weren’t Harvard graduates we’re talking about. In fact, many of them didn’t even graduate Cal State Fullerton (or even attend any school in the Cal State system). Truth be known, they aren’t any brighter than any other of the mommies out there. And probably nowhere near as bright as you. (You’re reading this, aren’t you? Smart girl!)

Are the benefits of teaching your baby sign language worth the effort. You betcha.

Here’s the first BIG benefit. From now on, little Gretchen will no longer have to scream at the top of her lungs because she wants you to know her toe, on the foot which she just removed from her mouth, hurts like heck because she just bit it with her new tooth. Now she can let you know in signs!

And hold on there, mama, there are side benefits, too. Long lasting ones.

Sign language helps young kids (whose hearing is just fine, thank you) to develop better English skills. Why? Because they communicate better. It turns out they are more alert and interested in the world around them. Now who would have figured that out ahead of time? But it’s true.

Here’s a few reasons why it probably works this way:

All little kids are mimics. Little girls want to wear lipstick and little boys want to shave (we hope for your sake it is not the other way around). When a child learns sign language they begin mimicking their parents at an earlier age. So they start younger doing adult things.

You see, to mimic someone, you first have to study that person. For instance, you can’t dance like Vanessa Hudgens (she’s one of the kids in “High School Musical” — I had to look it up) without first studying how Vanessa Hudgens dances. OK. That makes sense. You also have to study the signer to learn to sign. This develops attention skills. And kids keep focused because they love it! Their little mushy brains are working full speed and its exciting to them.

Your kid will think signing is a form of action game. They love it!

How does your little bundle of joy see all of this? Every kid loves to say: “Mom! Lookamee!” Because they crave parental attention. When she is being taught sign language she is the center of attention. And there’s no “hush now” or “back into the playpen with you.” Note: Kids hate being hushed, and they really hate being dumped into the playpen.

Now, are we saying if you teach your baby sign language she is guaranteed a full blown scholastic scholarship to an Ivy League school? Sure why not. Or at least she will have a jump start on everyone else. Kids that learn that learning is fun, well, now, they are set for life. So when you teach your baby sign language, it’s like the sage old advice: Give a baby a fish and she eats today. Teach a babyto fish and you feed her for a lifetime. Well, kinda like that. The point being, the benefits to your little angel are not just for right now. She will benefit for her whole life.