It's raining, it's pouring!

Last night while my daughter was in the bath it started to rain so hard that we could hear the raindrops falling on the roof, the thunder and we could see the lightning. I could see the worried look on her face and decided to use the opportunity to teach her a new sign and try and take her mind off of her fear of the rain sounds. I flittered my fingers on the surface of the water and made my own rain sounds. Then while my fingers dripped water, I raised them up to show her the sign for rain. RAIN, RAIN, RAIN....the water fell from my fingers and helped make the sign fun! You could quickly see the fear of the rain disappearing and the wonderment beginning. We talked about rain through the whole bath, and when it was over we walked outside and held out our hands to touch the rain. My daughter's face lit up! I know she has heard and seen the rain before, but being able to talk about it somehow made it magical. Signing rain gave her just the distraction I needed to turn a fear into a curiosity. I know the lesson stuck because all day today she has been waiting for it to rain. She runs to the window and says, "Mommy, RAIN?" I felt bad having to tell her, "No, no rain yet." Now instead of feeling afraid of the sounds of rain, she can't wait to hear them again.