Shelby's Frustrations

* Originally Posted July 17, 2006

Being the only deaf member of our family . . . being the only dwarf member of our family . . . and being the only athletic member of our family Shelby gets quite frustrated at times. Which in turn makes me, Mommy, frustrated. I want to use this blog page to inspire other parents of deaf children to homeschool, but I don't want to paint a picture full of roses. Life is hard sometimes and we forget why we are doing this!

My husband and I often compare our lives to having a child in our house that speaks Spanish. We live in Texas so we know some Spanish, but not at all fluent - not even close for that matter. Many families, unfortuantely, live the same situation but don't have the added challenge of trying to educate their child. Unfortunately they chose to let the state educate their child, yet never learn their child's natural language. This creates a false family with the child's peers instead of their family. We have chosen the bumpier path - the more rewarding path - the path laid out for us by our Lord and Savior.

There are days that I look at my daughter and wish she was born with normal hearing, I wish she could speak to me and tell me all about her dreams, I wish she didn't need me to translate to her what her daddy is trying to tell her. But then I think about what blessing God gave me when he gave me a deaf daughter. Instead of hearing my daughter tell me her dreams I get to see her dreams in full animation! (deaf people have such a wonderful gift for animation) Instead of fussing about translating I'm getting the opportunity to teach my husband and others sign language and time to practice my signing skills! If God hadn't blessed me with Shelby I may never have discovered a wonderful culture and language, I may never have homeschooled, I may never have appreciated each child's gifts and uniqueness, I may never have developed a heart for the deaf community.

Our family is not perfect and we are still learning. It's not alwasy easy, but it's always worth it! I hope that God will allow me to continue to encourage and empower other parents to take an active role in their deaf child's life.