Recycling Mommy

Alright, I know...the title of this post is a little strange. Our house is full of goofballs. I am as guilty as anyone else. Here is some cute, and maybe a little embarassing proof. However, I need to expain some background before I get to the punchline, so bear with me. Sometimes when Isaac acts in a way I don't want him to act, I will break the stern punishing mom mode and tell him I am going to throw him in the garbage can. (This is a joke and Isaac knows it is a joke!) I pick him up and hang him upside down over the garbage can. Of course this lightens the mood and ends with Isaac giggling nonstop and asking for more.

Now as any parent of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing child knows, we are supposed to dictate as much of our daily routine as possible to give our children the most access to language. That being said, I explain little things to Isaac that he might not know that his hearing peers may have learned from observation. The other day I was explaining why we put plastic bottles and empty cans in the recycling bin instead of the trash can. I told him that when the garbage man takes the old plastic bottles away, he melts them down and can make new bottles so we can use them again. We do this so that we don't have to make the big piles of garbage bigger.

Here is the adorable way that Isaac connected these two circumstances...Yesterday, I was telling him not to get out all of his toys at once because it would make a big mess. He told me, "Mommy is old. Put you in recycling bin and garbage man take you away and melt you down. Make a new mommy!" He thought this was hilarious! There is no doubt he is part of our family. Cochlear implants really are miracles. Isaac is expressing himself just as any of his hearing peers would because of the ability to hear (plus a lot of hard work and therapy).