Wordful Wednesday

My good friend Octamom posted Monday on birth order and the labels we assign to children. This was a humorous "attack" on the absurdity of the psychobabble that others use to "explain" our offspring. This post in response is about the "Power of Words". (In keeping with the rules note my photo of "Words" :)

Growing up, our neighborhood was full of children. There was a hateful group of boys just older than me who were "bullies". They roamed the streets I feel sure to look for smaller people to antagonize. I was small. So small my nickname from my dad was "skeeter", short for mosquito. The boys loved calling me names and the one that caused the most tears was "pinworm". Now I did not even know what a "pinworm" was and I feel sure they didn't either, but the reaction they received was just to enjoyable and they spent most of the summer teasing me unmercifully.

I cannot tell you how many times I was told..."sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!"

What I do know is that words matter. They mattered to me at 6 and they matter now. They must matter to my fellow bloggers because they painstakingly create their posts with just the right words and then they read other posts and graciously comment!

I spend 8 hours a day teaching hearing impaired babies to talk. Their parents and I wait anxiously for every word to appear, we choose our words carefully and we encourage them to communicate. Every word that they say is a precious gift to their parents and every word that I say to the parents should be a gift of hope. The words that I say to coach them matter.

In the old testament, the blessing that a father would bestow on his offspring was of great importance. It was a statement to predict a special future.

The labels we use to describe our children whether funny, true or in jest, are a statement of how we want that child to view themselves.

The labels we use to describe our friends, our spouses, our parents and our co-workers are also a statement of how we value them.

I have to remind myself that whether the first born, the middle child or the baby of the family, whether a type-A personality or B, whether introvert or extrovert, whether a party girl or a wall flower, we all deserve to hear at ALL times words that lift us up, that help us stay strong, that help us keep the faith and that are a blessing for a special future.

Check out other Wordful Wednesday posts at Seven Clown Circus!!! Angie's words are fun and entertaining. She has a multitude of awards and for good reason. Her words are a gift to those who read them!