One Family's Journey: The Daily Walk

By Notorious MLE -
Can I tell you all how much I love our Ergo carrier? It was a gift from my cousin and has been a huge blessing. Our son loves to be carried and we pack him in it to take long walks all the time. It is a wonderful way to spend timed together and sneak in lots of physical closeness: not always easy to do with a superactive, wiggly toddler! Another thing I used to do a lot was sing a "song" I invented in Bogota to teach him that my name was "Mama". He used to call his foster mom "Tia" so the whole "Mama" concept was new. The song goes like this...

Elian y la Mama! Elian y la Ma-ma! Vamos juntos a caminar!
Translation: Elian and Mama. Elian and Mama. We go walking together.

I'm sure you can all see my lyrical prowess is astounding! I impressed many a stray Bogotano with my singing skills.

In all seriousness though the song was very helpful to teach him his name and my name. He loved to hear the song because it meant we were going out walking and while I sang it I would put his hand on him when I said his name and on me when I said "Ma-ma" We would sing it over and over everyday while walking around Bogota and now we sing it while walking around our neighborhood in California. I've gotten a lot of weird looks but let me tell you they were more than worth it the first time Elian called me "Mama" and reached up with expectant arms.

We use songs for all sorts of routines to make them exciting. Elian is usually not interested in sitting down to hear a speech about how we are his parents and love him so much but we can sing about it ALL DAY LONG!

Disclaimer: I am not an adoption expert, social worker, therapist, doctor or even an experienced Mom. Everything I blog about is our personal experience and should not be considered professional advice.

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