Mommy Mondays are being taken over today by..dads? Read on!

Another Monday! Originally I wanted to do a ‘Mommy Monday’ blog or something cute like that. And yes, most of us who read these are women but I can’t stress enough how important it is for dads to be involved in their communication journey as much as moms. Boys and their dads have a very special bond, and we always hear about ‘daddy’s little princess’. This bond is a wonderful first step in communication. To build on it takes patience and persistence.

Dads, I encourage you to just sit with your child and work on it. It can be as easy as reading, or even watching TikTok together! Take this communication journey one step at a time. Something that you can start doing early is asking questions so they learn how to hear or ‘read’ a question when it is asked. Our voice tends to go up an octave or so when asking a question compared to just making a statement. Babies learn this first from their environment (that’s you!) One way to do this is to incorporate describing what is happening (on the tv or while playing or reading with them) as you ask the question. Example: ‘oh did you see Mickey go into his clubhouse?’ Use sentences that encourage them to respond back. Even if they may not answer you, they’ll start to hear the intonation of your voice - and if you’ve ever heard baby babble- they tend to copy sounds they have heard as well as intonation. *insert cute baby YouTube video here* : ) The goal is to get them to understand that this is a question and they can answer. Have fun with this- I know you dads like a challenge so here’s a fun activity. When asking a question (this is for the age group that have begun babbling specifically) don’t rush in to answer it. Wait for them to respond. Some of the things that they say, or attempt to say can be the silliest and cutest things ever! Happy learning!