Scare me if you can
I woke up early this morning. It wasn’t planned; maybe the sun shining through the curtains was too much of a change from the last few weeks . Anyway as most mornings, I went downstairs to let the dogs...
View ArticleThe joys of lipreading
Thought my husband was taking the boys to school this morning. Then he tells me he can’t because he has to take some building supplies back?Ok, I get dressed, made up and shoed in minutes only to be...
View ArticleAnother woman’s child
I avoid sleepovers the best I can during the school term. To me they are a nightmare. But if my boys sleep over at a classmate’s house I have to reciprocate.When my husband is home, he is up and down...
View ArticleDon’t do as I do
We see our adopted grandfather almost every day. He has some age related deafness easily helped by hearing aids, but as he hates the things, he often takes them out and ‘forgets’ them, which is really...
View ArticleWatch this
Not long ago my youngest had a friend over to play for the afternoon; they were running around playing ball and shooting each other and the friend had become very thirsty. Being a polite little boy, he...
View ArticleWatch your mouth
I cry sometimes. Different things can set me off, a remark: ‘you really have become very deaf’, someone giving me a shove to get past (most probably after asking me politely half a dozen times to stand...
View Article'No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the...
I have always believed myself to be very independent and capable. I still am, but as I have lost my hearing and with that the ability to understand speech I have learnt to accept and appreciate help...
View ArticleTake that
I heard music this morning! I swear, it sounded perfectly like music; like an orchestra playing. Very jolly it was too.Unfortunately the music was some form of tinnitus and despite my most positive...
View ArticleI should have heard it coming
I nearly got killed earlier!We have two dogs, Remy the fox terrier and Jess the mmm…eh we’re not sure about that one. As I work from home, they spend all day with me and I take them for their walk,...
View ArticleTwo across and six down
It wasn’t long after Alex my eldest started big school, he lost the rugby kit and because it was a new school he didn’t know where he left it. ‘Could be anywhere’ he informed me solemnly.As rugby...
View ArticleRelax, don't do it
Aah, Centre Parcs with the boys. We have arrived in the late afternoon after an unplanned detour caused by missing roundabouts and signposts. I’m a very good map-reader and it was definitely not my...
View ArticleFor thinking out loud!
It’s official; I am strange! I’ve noticed quite a few times in the last few weeks that people have been looking at me oddly. Yesterday in Tesco for example; I was standing near the fridge where they...
View ArticleCommunication; the universal solvent or a sticky subject?
I picked Chris and one of his mates up from school; they are going to the park. I’m driving. The plan is they’ll be staying at the park while I walk down with Jess (our dog) to pick up Alex. Halfway...
View ArticleLet's talk
I’d just come off the Internet after a long conversation with a friend and my youngest asked me something. For a fraction of a second I was confused, I mean; his lips were moving but no sound came out....
View ArticleBank on it
Friday night, better get some cash out. Cash machine tells me it cannot perform the task at this time ‘please try again later’. I try again three seconds later, same message. ‘Damn Co-op cash machine’...
View ArticleFeeling needed and wanted
The sun is shining this morning! I’ve had my first cup of coffee and am preparing three lunches, sandwiches and fruit, for Rob and the boys. First one to come into the kitchen is Chris, he mimics pants...
View ArticleWhat will Father Christmas bring this year?
Aw, we are entering the first week of xmas, a special time for my family and me. Not for religious reasons, but because for the last few years, xmas time for one reason or another has been a time of...
View ArticleWhat are husbands for?
I’m in a mood at the moment. I do get like this sometimes. I am fed up starting every interaction with a human being with ‘I am deaf, but I will try and read your lips.’ First of all I hate repeating I...
View ArticleThe help
I have a PA. My lip reading skills seem to be getting worse; could be my brain is packing up out of sheer exhaustion or maybe it’s not even my fault.Truth is I have never been very good. I remember...
View ArticleThe sleepover
Two young boys at the school gate, big brown eyes looking at me pleadingly. ‘Can Harrison come for a sleepover?’ asks Chris. ‘On Friday,’ Harrison explains, showing me the day after tomorrow with his...
View ArticleThe power of the mind
I always get butterflies whenever I upload a new blog entry or story for the rest of the world to see. I worry if I have done the best I could? Is spelling and grammar correct? Have I forgotten...
View ArticleRocking the boat
People react very different ways when you tell them you are deaf. Some believe you can’t possibly be completely deaf and start shouting, just as many fancy someone who is deaf must automatically be...
View ArticleStaying calm
You probably never thought of TypeTalk as an anger management tool?There are not many things that anger me, but insurance companies are one of them. I always get annoyed whenever I have to renew the...
View ArticleHearing people struggle too!
I have a bit of a hangover this morning, but I’m happy.I went to the pub last night; Rob wanted to take me out for a birthday drink and I just thought – ‘hell, I have to try harder really.’ On the way...
View ArticleKnow your limitations
It’s the time of year again; Alex has been asking me for the last week if we are coming for the parents evening at school. Rob is working and I - well to be honest am not looking forward to it.Last...
View ArticleThe little things in life
I'm sitting on the sofa, leg curled under me, the fire blazing reading a book by Paul Gilbert ‘The compassionate mind’ for the second time. Chapter 7 Mindful Preparation on the Road to Compassion.Chris...
View ArticleBring it on!
I have started floating! Yes, you read that right and I mean it literally. And it’s wonderful. Us deaf folks have a very stressful life trying to keep up with what is happening in the hearing...
View ArticleHad a rather nice Easter despite my bank
We hadn’t seen my stepdaughter for almost a year so we missed her at Christmas and her birthday had just past. Experience has taught us not to buy her gifts; much safer to let her choose something...
View ArticleA poem about nature and a visit to the doctor
Chris was going to make history last week. He was chosen to represent his school with his poem Nature at the first ever Literary festival in Dinefwr; rubbing shoulders with well known Welsh literary...
View ArticleThe Thai Way
I had to laugh out loud the other day.We were all at the table having dinner. A friend had joined us and there were lots of talking at laughing going on. Couldn't quite follow what they were talking...
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