"Mommy, did I come from an egg?"

"Mommy, did I come from an egg? Did you open me?" Those were the words that Riley spoke to me this evening. Innocent, curious, and inquisitive. His questions were likely spawned from his field trip to Wheeler Farm where he saw eggs that were hatching baby chicks. I replied with "Yes, you came from an egg and that you grew in my tummy and then I pushed you out. He then asked me, "Were you SO brave?". And I answered, "Yes, honey, I was very very brave. It was the bravest moment of my life." As I said that, I recalled the 24 hours of labor and natural birth that I had gone through to bring him into this world almost 5 years ago. It was the hardest and most rewarding processes I have ever been through.

I really never knew the depth of my capacity to love something or someone until I had Riley. Each day, each week, each month, and each year just seems to get even better than I could have imagined. His desire for connection, his appetite for play, his innocence and affection melts and molds me. He touches aspects of myself that I never knew existed and his ability to pretend and imagine sparks a lighter side of my adult self to grow. I seem to take life and everything very seriously and Riley has a way of inviting a more fun approach into my daily life. He is such a gift.

One of my favorite coaching tools is a book I received a long time ago from a friend and colleague named Mary. The book is called, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com). Everyone I suggest the book too has had a profound shift in the way they communicate with their spouse, partner, family members or co-workers. It is a very practical, easy and helpful tool and a book that everyone should read. The 5 love languages are: Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Physical Touch, and Receiving Gifts. You can determine what your dominant language is by taking a simple test. Simply parenting Riley, I can clearly see what his love languages are. I would say this his dominant language is Physical Touch, followed by Words of Affirmation (although he loves receiving gifts too). What has been so interesting is to see how simply rubbing his back, hugging him or holding him puts him at ease. It is as if he calms, he centers, and he grounds himself simply by checking in and receiving physical comfort from myself and Kristian. I have found that when he is tired or about to have a melt-down, I can anticipate his reaction and cut it off by simply holding him, embracing him and being 100% present with words of affirmation. He turns around instantly and I am continually amazed at the effect.