New Ability

Sometimes as a mother (or father) we get bad news. When our kids are having issues or need some help we feel like failures.

I knew there was an issue with Gs hearing. I just knew. I assumed she just needed her tubes replaced (and she does) but she also now wears two new hearing aids. Five years old wearing hearing aids. My heart broke. I shed some tears. I cried because I didn’t catch it sooner. I cried because my beautiful little princess has to wear hearing aids for the rest of her life and kids can be mean. I thought of her as a teenager and what it might mean for her self esteem. I just cried. And it was okay to take a moment and grieve for my babies hearing. For the extra work she had had to put in to meet the kindergarten expectations. But now its time to be strong and teach Georgia that this is a good thing that is going to help her be a better her… make life more beautiful for her.

But guys… she is so resilient. She works so hard. She managed (somehow) to meet the expectations of K with moderate hearing loss in both ears. She is so lovable and sociable and has so many little friends. She welcomes these hearing aids because they make HER life better. She told me yesterday “Mommy my hearing aids are making a noise”. I’m thinking the battery is dying already and its beeping in her ear. I ask her what kind of noise. She said “it sounds like water mommy”. It was raining outside. She heard the rain.

So …. I made the mistake of crying in front of her at the original appointment when we found out she needed the hearing aids. I had some major damage control to do. I waited a few days to introduce the idea because she couldn’t associate needing hearing aids with something negative. That’s not fair to her. Couldn’t find an age appropriate book if my life depended on it. BUT Spy kids is the cutest movie and the little fella wears hearing aids. They soon became the coolest “magical” ability. And she wanted them. We began to count down the days– the sleeps.

Georgia woke up on her first day with her cool pink hearing aids and asked to wear them. She has no idea there is a stigma attached to them. I pray she moves through life never thinking people may look at her differently. Better yet…. her little friends said nothing about them. These little kids are so pure and innocent at this age. Acceptance comes naturally. I encourage all parents to teach their kids about different abilities so their generation continues to be kind and inclusive.

So Georgia is my hero this week. She is such a hard working resilient little lady. And it is our job as parents to keep our kids kind and accepting of all humans. So excited to see what doors these hearing aids open for G. I just hope she can relax a bit and stop working so hard to hear what’s going on around her.

Holly