A Mommy Moment
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Last week I had one of those mommy moments. Not one of the bad ones, but one of the good ones, where your heart soars because you are so happy. So happy and so thankful to be a mom. Have you ever had one of those?
The past few weeks I have been really discouraged with Adam’s therapy. The first few times were good, the therapist had got him to try some applesauce and then the next time he tried a little bit of cheese. I was very excited to see progress, what little it was. Then at home it was back to the same, he wouldn’t eat anything but crackers and baby food, and he refused to try anything new. I tried all the little tricks the therapist had talked to us about, but nothing was working.
The next couple of sessions of therapy didn’t go so well. Adam has bad stranger anxiety and I think he now knew that therapy meant we were going to try new foods. He started crying before we even walked into the room. It wasn’t just fussing either. It was the kind of crying where you can’t calm him down. He was climbing all over me trying to prevent me from putting him in the high chair in the therapist’s office. One session he even scratched my face, not to be mean mind you, but because he was so scared he was trying to claw and hold on to me so tight so I could not put him down.
One session we could not calm him down enough to do anything so we just left. It was bad. I felt bad for the therapist and needless to say I was very embarrassed. Adam isn’t a bad child, he was just scared. I was discouraged.
I started asking myself questions. Questions a lot of moms have probably asked themselves before. How much does he really understand? Will we ever make progress? What if he just doesn’t “get” it?
Around this time we had also been working on a little bit of sign language with him. I had heard that sign language is good for kids who can’t talk. It helps them communicate better and frustrates them less when are trying to get something across to us. We had been working on the sign for please which is putting your hand on your chest and rubbing it in circles. My husband and I would work on showing Adam how to do it and we would do it ourselves every time he wanted something (usually food or drink).
At times I wanted to give up, he probably doesn’t understand it anyways, Â I thought. But we kept on doing it. Then on the day that we had to leave early from therapy I wrote this on facebook: “Really discouraged about Adam’s therapy. He has stranger anxiety so bad, the therapist couldn’t even work with him.” I was to the point of tears, frustrated that things were not going so well.
But God had a plan. He knew what I needed, even that very day…
Later that day, my husband had been trying to convince me that Adam was trying to sign “please” and I was not having it. I wanted to see it for myself before believing it and every time I turned around, he had either just done it or was refusing to do it all. That night we were getting him ready for bed. I don’t remember what we were doing, but my husband did the usual, “say please!” Â and as I watched, Adam took his hand and put it do his chest to sign please.
I was shocked. He really did get it! He was understanding us after all. Right after that, my husband showed me a “trick” he had been doing with Adam. He stood Adam up on the changing table to show him a picture of himself as a newborn baby. Then my husband asked him, “Adam, where’s the baby?” And Adam immediately pointed to the picture with a big smile on his face. My heart melted and soared at the same time. I was so happy. He actually knew what we were saying and he understood us! I realized that just because he can’t talk right now, doesn’t mean he doesn’t love us or understand what we are saying.
It was just what I needed. God sent me His love from above in the form of the best mommy moment ever!
Have you ever had a mommy moment like this before?
I loved this post!! Lily has really bad stranger anxiety too when it comes to the doctor … she too starts crying before we even get into the room and cries the WHOLE time the doctor or nurse is in the room!! Kicking and screaming as they try to do her checkup – It can be rough. We have a really nice doctor (which I believe was God ordained) she is so layed back nothing bothers her. I love that about her as I have opted out of some shots for Lily and only allow Lily to get one shot at a time and she has been wonderful đ Hopefully you have the same experience in having good doctors (which if working with children they should all be). Praying for Adam that he keeps making progress đ
Oh my yes, that totally is what happens with Adam. It has gotten so bad that they cannot even weigh him because he is screaming and kicking and tries to jump off into my arms. And he starts crying the second we get into that room for the whole time as well. Glad to know it’s not just my child. lol They ask me every time, “Does he does this all the time?” Umm only at the doctor’s! So far we have had great doctors for Adam which is a huge relief since I have not had good experiences with base doctors. God is been good in that area. Thanks for the prayers ans sweet comment!
What a great mommy moment đ We used sign language with our daughter from early on and then it became necessary because she did not really speak until she was 2 1/2. Now she speaks all the time but is in speech therapy at 5. It always feels so amazing when they show you what they can do and you see your hard work paying off!
Those photos are adorable – he’s a beautiful little guy! Praying for continued progress!
So how long did it take for your daughter to pick up on several signs? I am not even sure what else to teach him, we just do “more” and “please” right now. Thanks for the sweet comment and prayers, it is appreciated!
I felt like it took forever for her to begin using the signs. We started with “more” and “milk” because that seemed to be the ones she would use most. I think we showed them to her for a couple of months before she actually started using them (around 11 months). After she used those two and realized that she could communicate with them, she picked a few others up quicker – like “please”, “thank you”, “book”, “down”, “eat”. There may have been others but I can’t remember now. She used the signs for quite a while and then once she started a preschool program she finally started talking. Thank heavens for the signs though, they were a sanity saver! I hope they work well for your son!
He does “please”, and I do “more” all the time, but he doesn’t seem to get that one yet. lol Thanks for sharing your experience, this gives me hope! đ
Love it! Those moments are priceless.
They certainly are! And now you probably have had your own moment know that your little one is walking! đ
You are a great mom! ALL moms have those moments where we want to do more or we feel like we are not doing the right thing. I really believe that God knows when we as moms need that extra encouragement to go the extra mile. Being a mom is the hardest and yet best job God can give us! You are blessed and God is good. Adam is doing great and God has great plans for him and YOU!
Thanks Amy, I try so hard. I think you are right, God knows everything and he know exactly when we need that bit of encouragement! Thanks for the sweet comment and your encouragement. đ
Wow! I so relate to what you wrote in this post! You don’t even know.
Some days it feels like we’re the only parents going through these trying and difficult times with our kids. We want so bad for our children to develop at the same rate of other children and to do well. It can be so disheartening when the opposite happens.
I have twin 2 1/2 year old boys who are going through a similar situation. Both boys don’t really talk yet and just started speech/developmental therapy. Also one of my boys is also needing food therapy and just wants to eat bread and baby food mixed with oatmeal. That’s it! It’s disheartening to say the least.
I have to keep reminding myself that God knows, God cares and God will help our boys and us as we navigate through this. Again, thank you for writing this. I’m going to start looking for those signs and trust that my boys are improving as well.
Yes, you said it perfectly! It’s hard watching everyone else talking about their child saying new words, or doing all these new kids when you know your child is behind or can’t talk at all. How is speech therapy going for them? My son will be starting speech in January. The feeding therapy is going better we had a breakthrough with peanut butter. What about with yours? So nice to be able to talk to someone going through the same thing. Glad you were encouraged too! đ
Thanks for replying back! The boys are doing well- no words yet but they are working with them on using pictures for communicating their wants and needs. The boys have improved overall in areas of cognitive development and their receptive language. We just need that verbal part to kick in….I’ve been praying for that regularly for them.
The feeding is still going the same for my one son. I’m going to start putting some peanut butter on his bread and slowly start introducing that to him. My husband wants us to stop my son’s baby food cold turkey in January- we’ll see how that goes!
Wish you the best as your son enters speech therapy and so glad to hear that you had breakthrough with his eating- that is awesome!
That is awesome đ
How exciting!!
Thanks for commenting!
Hi there! I see that this is an older post, but it’s what was linked at the MOB Society and I enjoyed reading it! We are signing with our twins also; they are my youngest with three older brothers and this is the first time we’ve done signing. Such an anxiety and tantrum saver sometimes! Thanks for posting! <3
Hi!
Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! I totally agree signing is a huge blessing and very helpful and I love that the older he gets the more easy it is for him to pick up signs! đ
Thanks for linking up!! One of my moments is in the vet’s office-again-and it’s my lil’ guy with the patience, the hug as I’m trying to make it through with a 70 lb dog and a toddler on my hip…and scared for the pup…and he was there for me, God’s little blessing….
Beautiful story-sign language is a wonderful supplement for kiddos and I’m glad it was helpful!
Thanks for commenting! đ