Don't Judge

The past month has been a whirlwind of awesome, chaos and... well, let's just say that at this point I have four toothbrushes that could be mine but I'm just not sure. I mull it over every morning as we are already late for school. I have not cooked a decent meal for my kids in... well, so long I don't recall. They all appear to be functioning so I guess all is well in the nutrition department. I share the sweet and sensational snapshots of our one month as a family of five on Facebook because those moments should be celebrated. I just don't want any of you to think that everyday life is unicorns and rainbows. 

For example, this very morning I had to text my boys teacher and ask her to send them out of the classroom so I could apologize and ask their forgiveness for yelling at them this morning. Yelling at them to be kind. (I know. I know. facepalm) My point is, parenting is humbling, friends. HUMBLING. If your little one is still tiny and sweet, just wait. 

All of this to say, after much prayer, research and testing, we have decided to allow Leticia to have a left sided Cochlear Implant. Now, many of you are probably thinking, Right on! Great! Hope it goes well! My friends who are deaf, or are in the Deaf community are probably wanting to throw stones at me. I get it. I do. 

When we decided that adopting Leticia was something we were called to do, we knew that we loved her just as she is. That has NOT changed. Not a bit. Leticia is driving this train. She is a natural communicator. She wants to communicate with everyone, and not through some pesky interpreter. That might be wonderful for some kids, and Leticia needs to learn to accept interpretation in many settings, but she wants to HEAR, She has told us this so many times since she has been home. 

I know that some of my friends will be upset and may even be offended by our decision to allow her to have a CI. I get it. If you want to talk about it, we are here. The one thing I know about my daughter is that she is a girl who knows what she wants, so unless God throws up roadblocks. we are tentatively planning on proceeding in the next few months. 

I felt so conflicted leaving the audiologist today. This was never my plan. A man got on the elevator with us. He saw Leticia's hearing aids and asked if she was deaf. It turns out that he was also born deaf and was given a CI at the age of three. He went on about how he would never be a doctor without his CI and how thankful he was. He also signed and could communicate with Leticia in that way, as far too few can. For me, that was the confirmation I needed. I mean, what are the odds that a neurologist with a CI would be on that elevator at that moment when I was feeling such doubt. 

If you have questions about why the topic is controversial you an google or ask me. In the end, we all do what is best for our kids, even if it isn't what we had envisioned. Please pray for our family as we continue to pray and seek guidance and make decisions.