Today we’d like to introduce you to Lane Rebelo.
Lane, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was expecting my first baby, I planned to take a three-month maternity leave. I thought I’d take some time off, then head back to the career where I’d invested many years and where they anxiously awaited my return. We researched daycare options and picked one that suited our needs. We put a deposit down to hold a spot in the infant room.
But after my daughter arrived and as the weeks of my maternity leave ticked by, it became harder and harder for me to imagine dropping my new baby off at 7:30am and picking her back up at 6 or 6:30pm at night. My husband and I both worked long hours with significant commutes. With no family nearby, there was no way to avoid our new baby spending 10+ hours a day at daycare. And I just couldn’t wrap my brain around that.
Then I did something I never thought I’d do. I quit my job and became a stay-at-home mom – walking away from my career (and half of our household income!) in the process.
Let’s just say that becoming a stay-at-home mom was an adjustment! I’ve always been very career-oriented and am not a domestic goddess by any stretch. I struggled each day with feeling like I wasn’t accomplishing anything.
I also wrestled with boredom. While caring for a baby certainly keeps you busy, it’s not the most stimulating way to spend your time. So I did what I could to keep things interesting. We took classes, I did some volunteering, and I read…a LOT…
One of the books I read was about baby sign language, a topic I was curious about. I dove in and gave it a try. Despite my lack of experience, within a week or two my daughter was signing back to me and it was amazing! Sure, I made a few mistakes, but I was blown away by this ability for my 8-month old to “talk” to me. It made parenting so much easier and a heck of a lot more fun.
I started learning all I could about baby sign language – reading books, watching DVDs, and eventually taking American Sign Language classes at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham.
I fell in love with ASL and using it to communicate with pre-verbal children. Before long, other moms started asking me how to get started signing and next thing I knew, I was hosting informal classes in my home – sharing what I had learned and enjoying connecting with other moms.
So, when my daughter started preschool in 2008 and I was going to have a few mornings a week to myself, I decided to officially start Tiny Signs.
I rented space in a local church and started to spread the word. I was in business! I loved connecting with new parents and offering them support and guidance to open the door to early communication. Using my knowledge and training in child development as a clinical social work, plus my experience as a mom, I crafted a curriculum that I was excited to share with other families. It never gets old for me when a parent tells me of their baby signing for the first time! It’s so exciting and I get to experience it over and over through my work.
That was 10 years ago and since then my program has grown and changed and I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of new parents and early childhood educators throughout the Boston area and all over the US and beyond via video and online classes.
Most recently I wrote my first book called Baby Sign Language Made Easy: 101 Signs to Start Communicating with Your Child Now, which is available on June 12, 2018 on Amazon.com (http://bit.ly/BabySignEasy), which was a really cool experience. I’m thrilled to share my best tips & strategies in such an easy format for new parents and caregivers.
I love what I do and never would have imagined that walking away from my career 12+ years ago would create this amazing opportunity.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working with new parents and their little ones is really dear to me. It’s a profound time in people’s lives as they transition to the world of parenthood, and it can be challenging for sure! I feel honored to play a little part in this time of their life and love to see the babies I get to know in my classes grow in to toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond!
One of the biggest challenges in my particular niche is that my customers are always outgrowing me, so I have to constantly find new families to connect with. Fortunately my students often refer their friends and also come back with baby number two (and three sometimes!).
Please tell us about Tiny Signs.
Tiny Signs is offers baby sign language classes and workshops in the Greater Boston area and online. I work with families, early childhood educators and therapists, libraries and child care centers. I teach parents and professionals how to use basic American Sign Language vocabulary to communicate with pre-verbal infants and toddlers, as well as older children with communication challenges.
I think what makes Tiny Signs so popular is the way I have blended my background in child development, my love of ASL and my personal experience as a mom into everything I do. I love troubleshooting and answering the questions that parents bring to me. And there’s nothing better than celebrating with an excited new mom whose baby has just started signing!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1257 Worcester Rd #137
Framingham MA 01701 - Website: http://tinysigns.net
- Email: lane@tinysigns.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinysigns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinySigns/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinySigns
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/tinysigns/
Image Credit:
Jacquelyn Warner
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