Day #212 Tip – Loving Hands

If you have been reading my blog a long time and have a wicked good memory, you will remember me talking about how we say our family has “loving hands, loving words and loving actions.” I talked about that in terms of older kids, but I didn’t talk about how I teaching loving hands with my babies. When a baby begins to hit, I will gently grab their hand and say, “We have loving hands.” Then, I take their hand and show them how to touch my face gently. I let them practice. If they hit again, I keep repeating myself and continue to try and let them practice. A will often say, “Show me your loving hands,” and they will gently stroke my face or the face of one of the siblings. With my boy, I found that hitting was an immediate reaction more than my girls. It wasn’t always out of anger or aggression. It was often a sign of affection. Training this in them young has been important, especially, for knowing how to gently touch other babies.