Mommy Moment…
How do you teach your kids to introduce themselves to others? Maybe that’s an “old-school” thought. Maybe you don’t teach your kids to formally introduce themselves. We did, and sometimes it worked better than other times.
Danielle was fairly shy and wasn’t really comfortable introducing herself, but she would look people in the eye and shake their hand. Devin LOVED people. He never hesitated and was happy to tell people his name. Jenna was a little quiet, but it didn’t make her uncomfortable. Kali was extremely adult about it and would correct someone if they said her name wrong. But it was Caleb who had quite a unique way of introducing himself to others.
He would walk over to the new person, put out his hand, and say, “Hi. I’m C-A-L-E-B.” He spelled his name every time.
You see, Caleb was not a verbal kid when he was little. He had two teenage siblings and two sisters just older than him. He had no need to speak… ever. Everyone just knew what he wanted and generally one of those four would give in to his adorable, pleading, big blue eyes and his contagious and perpetual happy little smile. No words needed. So, he was well over two-years-old before he spoke more than just “Mama” and “Dada.”
Actually, the kid would use a word once and not ever use it again. I knew he COULD speak. He just didn’t.
Not that he was quiet. Oh, No! Not for more than a minute. He made noise from the second he awoke until his heavy little eyelids closed for sleep. But even once he began to speak “real words” the poor little guy couldn’t pronounce his own name. It has all the hard sounds in it. “K” “L” and “B” are all sounds that give kids difficulties saying. So… he would spell his name when he introduced himself. Which made him sound super smart. Lol
Teaching kids to interact with adults truly is an important skill, whether they spell their name or say it.
Mommy, you got this!!
