A couple of days ago I received a lovely message on Facebook that really made me smile.

A woman named Ali got in touch to tell me that she’d been teaching sign language to her three-year old son Caleb and he’d been picking it up well until they got to the sign for ‘biscuit’.

With Ali’s permission here’s her description of what’s been happening:

“The only one so far he refuses to believe is ‘biscuit’. We show him the way to sign but he thinks yours is correct and when asked to sign ‘biscuit’ he hits his hand on his chest!”

I’m touched by Caleb’s response to my tics and deeply impressed by how observant he is. He’s not the first toddler to notice and embrace my chest-banging tic –I’ve had lots of beautiful interactions with young children that start with a chest bump.

For anyone who’s curious to know what the actual sign for biscuit is, you can watch it here.

Thank you for sharing your story Ali, and I hope Caleb gets a biscuit whichever way he signs it.