Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Revel in the basics

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Last night, as we were about to leave Lily's trapeze class, one of the moms asked me how sign language was going.  But she didn't just ask me, she sign language asked me!  I didn't even know what she was doing at the time, that's how "not doing sign language" I have been lately. 

Next thing I know, Tallulah is chatting with her about all these different signs.  Now, I know it isn't much, but I did learn a few signs last night just by being in the right place at the right time.  Revel in the small things, right?  Maybe by doing that, I open space for more and more to pile in...instead of walking around feeling guilty about the fact that I didn't learn the dang alphabet.
I think Lily is signing, "You did it!"

Here's what I learned:
Yes
No
Good 
Good Morning
Good Night
Please
Thank You
Sorry
More

Here's what it inspired me to learn this morning:
I'm Hungry
OK
Where?
Water

And I learned a lot more from this You Tube video:
This guy is pretty funny.  Tallulah and I were cracking up at the "In your face" and "Shut your mouth" comments.
Now if I learn to spell out Seattle, I can say "I am from Seattle." or "I live in Seattle."

So, open yourself up to the little victories in life!

4 comments:

Cassandra said...

I think sign language is one of those things that sticks with you once you learn it, making it a useful way to spend just a few minutes. ;) I learned the alphabet when I was 11 and can still remember it. Not sure why that is so much easier than any other language attempts! :P

Melissa Baumgart said...

Cassandra,
I agree. The mom at trapeze said it had been 30 years since she learned it, and she still remembered!

Jean said...

I'm so glad you were inspired by my limited memory of sign! You reminded me how much I used to love it, so thanks!

I do know that Seattle has what is known as a "name sign" so you don't have to fingerspell it. As near as I can figure, this name sign is an "S" held at shoulder height and shaken back & forth -- maybe from the image of the Space Needle, swaying in the breeze?

See you at trapeze. :)

Unknown said...

Thanks, Jean! Glad you got to relive your love of signing! And thanks for the Seattle info!!