This isn’t a push to get you to join Facebook (though if you haven’t yet really what are you waiting for). This is a story about everything that is lovely about ChallahCrumbs. In fact, this might be my love letter to our readers.
ChallahCrumbs has a fan page on Facebook (see what you’re missing out on). Every day I post something. Sometimes it is a link to a fabulous recipe we’ve just posted on the site. Sometimes it’s a craft I’m making with my kids. And sometimes I ask our readers a question. Often they are benign questions – what’s the best toy on the market? How do you get siblings to love each other? But yesterday’s question was a bit different. It was about my 5 year old son who is getting hearing aids today.
I wondered out loud about throwing him a party in school – with an “ear” cake, an explanation about his hearing aids and little treats. It was a celebration of being a bit different. The teacher was hesitant. She wanted to explain what was happening but not make a big deal out of it. I respect her and like her, but I thought that my kid might need a bit more.
I posted that question on facebook. And 50 people wrote back. They didn’t all agree with me. They didn’t all agree with the teacher. The responses were full of love and thought and insight. They came from teachers and parents and grandparents. People who had first-hand knowledge or people who were simply full of empathy. (My favorite response was sent directly to my personal email account where a friend suggested that as long as we weren’t bringing in strippers a party seemed fine to her!)
To truly understand my question you probably need to know my son. He is joy. He has brown hair that turns blond in the summer. He loves all thing Sesame Street, Backyardigans and Phineas and Ferb. He can play by himself for hours and wipes off my kisses when he thinks I’m not looking. But he snuggles with me every night to read books and talk. He is the kid that you would go to the moon and back for. When he decided he loved the “Smurps” (his way of saying Smurfs), my father went on eBay to track down all the characters for him. It took my dad 6 hours, but now my 5 year old has them all.
I know today isn’t going to be an easy day. I’m actually planning on it being pretty sad. But here are a few things I know: at the end of today, my kid is going to hear better than he ever has and I have thousands of parents, grandparents and teachers who have got my back. So, try us. We seem to have been blessed with readers who are intelligent and kind and thoughtful. Having a parenting moment that requires advice or just a shoulder to lean on? Have I got a Facebook group for you.
Thank you one and all. You have blessed me today.
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