PARENTING: A baby hears her mother's voice for the first time...
The emotional perks of being thankful for what we have...
As parents-to-be there's definitely a rollercoaster of emotions that we go through. Whether that has to do with the responsibility of becoming parents or the fact that there's this innate voice of worry that we have to quieten.
It's natural to be concerned as a parent, worrying about your child's health, their wellbeing, and just being able to protect them from all the bad and not so ideal things in life.
But the truth and the reality of the situation is that what's meant to happen will happen. All we can do is the best we are able to and make sure that we get the support and guidance when we are placed in a challenging situation.
Just like that, this mother gave birth to her baby girl last year. After some time Christina Pacala and her husband found out that their daughter Riley was deaf.
We've made it our goal to give Riley access to as many tools as possible to help her communication and development – that includes giving her access to both American Sign Language, and spoken English.
WATCH the TikTok video Christina posted on her page below.
@christina_pax Allll the emotions hearing Mama’s voice for the 1st time #deafkidsrock #deafawareness #hearingaidsgang #babytok #momsoftiktok #momtok #toddlertok #fyp ♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) - Danilo Stankovic
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Christina is a passionate about ensuring that everyone knows that hearing aids are not a tool to fix being deaf. She shared in the video that "Hearing aids are not some magical ‘fix’ for deaf people. Deaf people don’t need to be fixed. They’re just a tool to access sound. But, this was a pretty special moment for us." (TikTok)
Not all parents are willing to learn sign language and the stats reveal that "92% of children born with permanent hearing loss have two hearing parents." (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) But it's important to note that these statistics are from the United States of America.
Riley is a smart, happy, and very energetic child. She loves playing with blocks and baby dolls, listening to music, and signing bedtime stories with her father each night. We're excited to be able to share our journey, and hope to help people understand that deaf kids can do absolutely anything.
We love the way these parents have chosen to parent. Equipping their daughter with informed choices and supporting her through her hearing and stimulating journey.
We could all learn a little from this video, to be more grateful, to be more present as parents, especially when it comes to what we say and what we hear. Also, just to be more mindful or conscious of being a parent...
Image Courtesy of TikTok