The Day the Balloon Popped, I Pretended to Cry with My Son

I want it!

At dinner, my son pointed at his dad's natto, asking for some.

He pointed at the natto on his picture card, saying the same "I want it."

The natto boom is still going strong for my son.

A way to give names to emotions

We are currently being mindful of something to help increase our son's vocabulary.

We express our child's emotions using sign language.

When he laughs, we sign "That's fun."

When he eats, we sign "That's delicious" too.

When he sees a flower, we sign "That's beautiful."

We take what he feels and pass it back to him in sign language.

Happy, fun, and delicious come out easily.

The problem was with "lonely."

The day the balloon popped

The balloon went pop. My son had put his whole weight on it, and it burst from the pressure.

My son made an indescribable face.

It wasn't surprise, and it wasn't anger. It was a nameless expression.

First, I signed "That was a surprise."

After that, I signed "It's gone, and that's lonely."

It seems "surprise" doesn't quite click for my son yet.

But the concepts of "gone" and "sad" were clearly conveyed.

He waves his hand to express "gone".

After that, he pretends to cry.

I did the same, using the sign for being surprised by the pop, then waving my hand and pretending to cry.

The two of us pretended to cry with the same expression, and then we ended up laughing out loud.

Apparently, this is also mentioned in research.

When you give a name to a feeling, the emotions that were running wild inside a child calm down a little.

It seems there is research like that in America.

Something about how just putting it into words helps the excited part of the brain settle down.

In parenting, I also hear that children whose feelings are acknowledged and put into words become better at self-control later on.

But that's all about hearing children, though I think it's probably the same with sign language.

The tool for giving shape to feelings is just sign language instead of voice, but what we're doing is probably the same.

And, in the end, he became a demon for "wanting" things.

Thanks to labeling, emotions have started to be conveyed properly.

However, the one that comes up most often is "want".

Lately, "want" is the sign my son uses the most.

The natto I mentioned at the beginning is one of those cases.

He points to the photo card because he wants it, then points to the real thing because he wants it again.

He repeats that over and over.

In a way, it also means he is properly able to express his desires and feelings in sign language.

If you call this growth, then I suppose it is.

I understand that logically.

I understand it, but... in the end, I give in and say, "Just a little bit," while giving him some natto.

I'm such a soft parent, even by my own standards.

It's about time I taught him what it means to like something...!

Click here for the first contact of our natto diplomacy. Natto is good for your health, so I suppose it's fine.