Today got silly. After walking my son into his classroom this morning and kissing him goodbye (that’s not the silly part, he still willingly kisses me in public), he called out, “Shoe, take Mommy back outside!”. I laughed and said, “Oh nooooooo…”. Then I started to shake my right shoe towards the door and hop, mimicking that my shoe was, in fact, taking me outside by force. Ian giggled like crazy, and his teacher looked at me like I was actually crazy. Sorry, Ms. S, no time to explain!

But here’s what happened. Fifteen minutes prior to that exchange at school, I had asked Ian if he could find my other running shoe within the mountain of shoes and boots by the front door, while I searched for it in our equally disastrously full hall closet. Once found at the back of the closet, I pretended the shoe had been willfully hiding on me. “Look, Ian! Now it’s trying to escape and not join the other one on my foot!” I said, as I pretend-wrestled the shoe on. That lead to big giggles on the floor in our hallway. Then Ian took my lead and commanded the shoe to sit still while I tied it up, which brought on some full-on belly laughs. He continued to command the shoe to make me hop, jump up and down, and finally head outside to go to school with him. 

A truly silly moment that came out of nowhere.

I love those silly moments. Mindful parenting is no mean feat, and I learn on the job everyday. Ups and downs, hills and valleys, keep walking. But those silly, giggling moments together are what keep me feeling light in my heart. Truthfully, I will admit that I have days where it seems like there’s a disproportionate amount of seriously grumpy parenting moments verses silly, fun, and creative ones. And I think that’s part of why I write this blog, to keep myself accountable and to remember to BE silly and enjoy the lighter moments of parenting. My kids know the ASL sign for SHOES, and I don’t have to say it out loud when I want them to get their shoes on. I just call their name to catch their eye and sign it. Except when we pretend my shoe is controlling me, of course. Then we just giggle.

Try using the ASL sign for SHOES when you are heading outside. The visual cue of signing SHOES while you say, “time to get our shoes on” can help kids of any age learn a very common routine, and stay on-task, without you even needing to use your voice.

Please tell me I’m not the only silly mom?