It was probably just fluid in the ear canal…anyway.

In a few short weeks, we would have to return for the more extensive test, and thought we would be told everything was all clear.

Parenting is a balancing act between protecting them and preparing them; Between stepping in and stepping back; Between holding and launching.

Friday Night Lights brings communities together, and you realize after years of participating in this ritual, whether a former player, a member of the cheerleading squad or marching band, or a spectator who watched from your own high school student section, collectively, we feel it.

I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a little further along in the parenting journey—hers in college, mine in high school—and we both admitted how few people we have to confide in about the struggles of raising teens.

My dad died of cancer a little more than five months after this photo was taken. 

I traveled home from school to spend Easter Sunday with him, my mom was working in the hospital in ICU that weekend.

When someone who is deaf or hard of hearing is told, “Never mind,” the feelings are often universal.

Even though at this age he might not want to share his feelings with us and instead might want to be left alone, there will also be those times when a good family movie night with a heaping bowl of ice cream can fix almost anything, at least for the moment.

We were the lucky ones because our insurance considered this a medical necessity and covered the cost of digital aids and regular audiology for programming, necessary to make sure they were shaped for her specific loss.

Not everyone is as fortunate to get the medical care they need!

As parents, you just don’t know. The cards are held by something much bigger than what you are capable of imagining. There is a plan much more complicated than you can envision.

As you become a teen, may you always know your uniqueness is golden, even if it’s not trendy or fashionable. Spend more time discovering your passions and less energy trying to keep up.

The only words your child needs to hear.

Our children really need to know is that their worth is not measured by wins and losses or missed balls or baskets. And if we want them to have a love of the game… they need to discover the intrinsic joy.

When my baby was diagnosed with hearing loss, I did not want to hear the word FINE.

Because, here’s the thing. In those early days—it was NOT fine. None of it.

I was scared.
I was sad.
I was overwhelmed.
I was in shock.
I was worried.
I was grieving.

I realized that I have been speaking to myself in a manner that I would never talk to anyone: put-downs, negative talk, toxic language.

As the school year comes to an end, I’d like to give a big SHOUT OUT to all the kids who had an IEP and made it through the year!

Truth talk.

Despite all the amazing videos we see across social media and the news…Most children with hearing loss do not experience a “magical” reaction the day they receive their hearing devices.

The truth is, the REAL MAGICAL MOMENTS for a child with HEARING LOSS often come later. In smaller yet profound ways.

At this moment I realized these moments are fleeting. It won’t be much longer; She will brush her own hair; stand on her own two feet. And she will no longer ask for my help in this kind of way. It’s not a matter of being capable of doing it herself. She’s done it before. I know, and she knows, she can.

It was a new neighborhood, a new school, and I had the new kids. We nervously arrived on the first day of school, immediately passing a group of chattering moms taking photos of their kids wearing freshly pressed shirts, with newly shorn haircuts to boot. It seemed everyone had their own circles.

To the new parents of a child diagnosed with hearing loss,

I know how you are feeling. I have been there. And I am here to tell you—

It is going to be OK.

Yes, it is going to be challenging and you might find yourself thinking you aren’t made for this kind of stuff. But, you’ve got this.

Growing up around these women was a gift. I didn’t even realize the lessons they taught me until decades later when I became a military spouse myself. After twenty-three years as a military bride, I can reflect back on some of the things these spouses taught me:

I know your worry. I felt it too. All the time. I worried about everything, having many sleepless nights and a tightness in my heart. Will they develop language? For me, I worry about my children’s hearing loss. For you, it could be something completely different. Worrying is worrying.