I have a lot of baby cousins, so I decided to observe my one year old cousin Chance. We were all at my grandparents house after church one Sunday and Chance was ready to play. However my family was all caught up in talking. They would watch Chance walk around, play with his toy, and laugh and clap, but they never did connect with him. They would talk about him and how cute he is to each other, but never addressed him by name.
When doing this the baby is disqualified on a personal level. Repeated encounters like this tell the baby he/she is insignificant. Acknowledging and speaking directly to the baby by name tell the baby he or she is respected as an individual (Kovack & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011). So, what I done was called him by name and told him to come and talk to me. When he walked over to me I got his hand and asked him what he had been doing all day. He then showed me is toy and what it done. I then went on to talk to him about his toy and asked him if I could play with it, he smiled and handed it right to me. Children know what you are talking about and really enjoys when you take interest in what they are doing. Adults need to be patient with the children, address them by name, give them ample time to respond, and be on their level ( Kovack & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011).
What should have been done was my family should have talked to Chance and given him the opportunity to express himself, acknowledged what he was trying to show everybody, and listened to him. I have to admit that at times I talk about babies with their moms in front of them and not even think about addressing the child. I have learned this week that by addressing the child by name, listening to them, responding to them, and giving them the opportunity to express themselves they have a lot to say. They just need someone to stop and listen to what they are trying to say.
Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66 (2), 48-50.
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