Another school year has come and gone. Crazy. I turned 38, Max will soon be 8 and Claire is now 4 (I won’t mention Steph’s age.). That looks really strange to me when I see it written down.
Anyway…. I though that I would take a minute and update everyone on our family. Let’s go youngest to oldest.
Claire – Oh Claire. Claire, Claire, Claire, Claire, Claire Claire. This girl is something else. She has really humbled me as a parent. I love her more than words can express, but she is going through some serious “stinker” issues right now. I’m almost positive that some of these behavioral issues stem from hearing loss and her frustration with communicating, but that’s not all of it. We were at Blackstone after the Country Music ½ Marathon a few weeks ago, waiting for our food, and what did I see? I saw a spitball flying at my head! I looked at Max. Nope. I looked at Stephanie. Nope. I looked at Claire. Yes! Claire was the assailant. Where in the heck did a 4 year old learn to shoot spit wads from a straw? One night this week, I was trying to get Claire in bed and she was not cooperating. At some point during my effort to get her in bed, she became very angry with me. Unfortunately she had a glass of water in her hand. What did she do with the water? She threw it right at me. Drenched me. Have you ever had the urge to laugh when you were furious? I did. Claire also likes to put me in “time out” and give me the old stick out your tongue/spitting routine. Oh. She also likes to pick Bruno the dog up by his hind legs and carry him around. Fun for Bruno. Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t trade Claire in for any other little girl in the whole world. I don’t know what I would do without her. I just don’t know what to do with her either!
PS – I forgot to mention that she placed all of her loose change in the disc slot on the Wii. Yep. $85 repair…
I continue to be concerned about her expressive language and social skills. She attends a wonderful auditory oral school (as you probably know). I’m just at a loss on what else to do, short of hiring a full time Auditory Verbal therapist to live at our house. Man. That would be nice!
Max – I read an interesting quote this morning. “Show me a kid involved in too many extra curricular activities, and I will show you a miserable parent.” I hope that I am not stepping in to this trap with Max. I love coaching his baseball team and our tournament begins this weekend. (Max is playing great by the way.) I also just signed him up for Mixed Martial Arts School at Elite Martial Arts in Brentwood. He is signed up for two soccer camps and a baseball camp this summer as well. I know that sounds like a lot, but I refuse to let him sit around the house and play video games all summer. The camps are spread out and Martial Arts does not start until we finish baseball. Am I crazy? Nah. As long as it is one sport at a time, I think we are OK.
As I mentioned in my last blog, Max is doing well in school and will graduate to second grade this fall. I pray that the Lord provides Max with a wonderful second grade teacher. He has blessed Max so far in that aspect. I’m still waiting for a sign on Max’s second implant. I received some good input from one of our family friends, but I don’t know if that is my sign. The input was appreciated none the less. I know the second implant would help Max. I just can’t get over the idea of putting my beautiful, happy, robust, loving baby boy (almost 8) under the knife again. I get teared up just thinking about it. Sorry. I know I whine about this all the time.
Steph – Perfection :) - Just kidding. She is well, but I don’t like to speak for her.
Me – I’m struggling a bit right now to be honest. Being a good father, husband, employee and disciple all at the same time is not happening at the moment. I’ll keep plugging away though. I’ve got too great of a family and am blessed way too much to stay bogged down for long.
On a positive note, I am exercising again. I am training for the Riverbend 10K in Chattanooga on June 19th and will eventually train for the Healdsburg Wine Country ½ Marathon on Halloween. Accomplishing these goals is imperative for my self esteem. Please pray that I stay injury free.
I’m also enjoying a couple of good sermon series via the internet. Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN has a good one going on Genesis and Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN has a good one going on the book of Daniel. Check them out. If you are like me, a good teacher can truly enhance your understanding of the Bible.
Check out our Mentor page on the Advanced Bionics web site if you have any cochlear implant questions.
Out.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Max
I just wanted to take a minute to share my thoughts on Max. Steph and I are currently trying to decide whether or not Max needs a second implant. He is doing really well in school, but I see his hearing struggles on a daily basis. It is almost impossible for him to hear in a noisy situation, such as the lunchroom at school, or in the car with the windows rolled down. Is it worth the low percentage risk of surgery to get him the second implant? Will he be happy that we did this for him in the long run, or will he be mad that he has to deal with the extra hardware? I wish that I could snap my fingers and presto chango, Max instantly has a second implant. Unfortunately, life just doesn't work that way, especially in the Hawkins household. I don't know what we'll do. Max's surgeon is so confident and seems to have Max's best interests at heart (he has a disabled child as well). I don't know. I just don't know. I asked God for an obvious sign for me to say yes or no, but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I haven't prayed hard enough. I don't know.
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