Nothing Clever But Really Cool

Wednesday was amazing. My son is in an all hearing physical theater company. The cool thing is they don't use their voices but only their bodies. Wednesday they went to the deaf school to showcase their theater form. It was awesome! After the show the director and company answered questions and invited the deaf kids to join the company next year..... this was very well received... next year will be such a great year.

Today my son and I took off for  the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland , Oregon to watch Howie Seago, professional Deaf actor, perform. Howie is a rare bird. The kindest role model ever and Haddy is over the moon excited. We will see and interpreted show and go on an interpreted backstage tour....

Life is good for a Deaf kid.

I see What You Are Saying

Tonight I was volunteering at my son's school working the back of the house at a dinner show. Last year as the actors would pass me back stage I would notice some were signing with him. Some would come up to me and make attempts. Cool.

One year later as I sit back stage I notice almost the entire cast and crew is signing conversations with me during the play. It seems it is the most natural thing to do!

Awesome

Hold On Mom.....

"I "forgot" to clean my room and I need to pack my barrel for our adventure in two weeks. I am a teenager so I will selectively notice you when you are signing. For some reason at age thirteen I have all of the answers. "   

Dear creatures that came from my body,

Yes, it is my duty to embarass you morning, noon and night. Parenting is a 24 hour job.

I will always  love you but not so much the mess in your room.

Warmest regards,

The woman who spent 18 hours in labour 

Dear Mr. Shakespeare,

Dear Mr Shakespeare,


I am sure when the stories were forming in your head being ready to commit to paper the idea that your words would prove the world to be a glorious place for a Deaf kid was not even on your radar. Well if I had the chance I would inform you that your words by chance have  shown me the journey we all take is meant to be and if for some reason it is off the beaten path there will be magic and a reason for gratitude. 


Gratefully,


Mom of deaf kid trying to get it right


So I posted recently about my son wanting to go to a Shakespeare intensive  theatre camp this summer. It was a short blip I tossed online in a moment where I felt helpless. The outcome was..... well..... I am sorry I don't have words.

Haddy has four interpreters lined up to work with him at camp....... he gets to go and feel like a typical kid who happens to want to learn about "The Tempest".  The folks who stepped forward to solve this challenge are ..... again ...... no words..... I really don't have the words......  

The other outcome was a gift we would have never imagined. So he has written thank you notes and handed them off to me..... I have been sitting here trying to find the words for my side of the notes..... again..... I can't find them.

 Dear Mr. Shakespeare,
Spare some words for me.

The Thing About Life

So I had a crappy day. Yep, really crappy.

Time for my hearing kiddo to go to sleep....

"Mommy, but you need to read to me....."

I do, I start..... I am lousy.....trying, my voice is like a snail on a rock.

My deaf kid takes over.... they have a story that he has made up.... it is a sort of a chronicle about my daughter's life. They tell me it is called "Unibrow!" Uh, this is maybe OK?

So I am sitting here, being grownup,  with tons of stuff to figure out and my son is signing the next episode of "Unibrow"

I am grateful for the laughter

"So, Like, I Woke Up And Like"

Sometimes my daughter and I venture down to the playground next to my son's school and wait for him to walk out. My daughter runs off full of energy to play and I sit and watch.

This is the part I shouldn't share maybe,

Friday I was sitting on the bench signing to my girl because talking is a strain at that distance. There were two kids, the same age as my son, on a tire swing in front of me. A girl and a boy. I think they thought I was deaf.

So the girl was talking so loud I couldn't help but hear every mangled word she vomited into the atmosphere,

"So, like, I like, got this call and like it was a guy wanting to like, sell me a car and like, I was like saying like I am only like, thirteen and like he just kept like, trying and I was so like, freaked out. I really like  doughnuts and like, my mom took my dog to the vet and like ....."

This goes non stop four about 4 minutes. She didn't even pause for a breath. Of course being of sound mind I was trying to remember how to do CPR if she happened to just pass out from the sheer energy it took to talk so loud and mangle every thought with "like".

Then she pauses waiting for the boy to respond and he does,

"My Xbox is broken"

This prompts the girl to open her floodgate as she glances toward my kid's school,

"OH MY GOD!!!!! like here comes, like, the art school kids, we should go down there and like yell at them, like in a accent, like, yell something funny like, "hey art school freaks!" Yea that would be funny and like, it would freak them out....." * fill in the blanks this went on for at least two minutes*

They get up and walk away when the art kids got close as though this great plan was really just a way to show their frustration that they were not "art school freaks".


So I sat there feeling like I had been verbally assaulted. The word "like" was swirling around my brain causing a wee bit of mental pain. Then I got to thinking as my son walked over. You see having a deaf kid has perks! I don't have to sit and have a conversation with him holding a Teenspeak dictionary. Of course he is a typical thirteen year old and he drives me nuts but....... I am not assaulted by his language....  he doesn't use his language to fill every space within reach. If he has a thought he frames it in a way to best express it. Sometimes I don't agree but at least I understand him.

My next thought? Is my hearing daughter going adopt the teen code that will surely give me a headache?