Saturday, July 27, 2013

Late night thoughts

I haven't mentioned much about the downsides of moving, but I am kind of frustrated, so here it is.  There are no pediatric audiologists here.  The first audiologist we tried when we first moved here was clearly uncomfortable with kids.  She made the ear molds the way she wanted, even though I wanted something else.  We never went back.  The hearing aids stopped working and I had no idea where to go to get them fixed so they have sat in a container for a year.  We went to a different office this week.  They were nice, but not really equipped for kids.

I miss our old office, our amazing audiologists, our cranky ENT's, the staff who never seemed to get the kids straight, the groovy prizes, the freakishly fast elevator and the valet parking that had to be utilized because parking was scarce. I miss knowing that my kids needs would be met.  I miss the informed audiologists who cared about my kids and offered various solutions, including grants, therapies, etc.

My kids have been thrown solely into the hearing world with no amplification and it takes its toll.  It is fatiguing to work extra hard to decipher the world around you.  It leads to inattention and "laziness"and then crankiness, just from trying to get along in regular life.  Throw in schooling on top of that and sometimes it doesn't go over well.

I am grateful that Emma has had as much success as she has.  She is at grade level in every subject and is maturing into a more independent student.  As Laura begins kindergarten I am concerned for her, with all the added work of learning to read and do math.

Honestly, I wish we could get the hearing aid thing figured out, and then somehow convince them to wear them after a year long hiatus.  Add in the stress of being a tween and wanting to fit in, it's a hard time to wear something that says, "look at how different I am!" And I don't know how successful it will be.

So, while moving here has opened the door to many new experiences, I gotta say there are some things, pretty significant things, that affect the quality of our lives, that I really miss.

Still don't miss the snow, though.

2 comments:

Katie Bell said...

I miss restaurants where you could buy Chinese food by the scoop and feed a family for like $3.

But, no, I don't miss the snow.

Helen & Bill said...

You might have to go to Sacramento. Honestly, sometimes I forget the girls have hearing loss until you remind me. I imagine it must be somewhat frustrating them and for you. Hang in there and keep looking and asking around. hugs