Reminders of the realities of having a deaf child

Tonight we were reminded of some of the realities of having a deaf child.

We are doing some work on our yard that requires using a bobcat.( the mini tractor thingy:)

I took the kids to see their grandparents while their dad dug out part of the yard. When we got home it was dark outside. To my surprise, their dad was still going at it in the backyard. The kids of course wanted to bound out of the van to help their dad with his work. After we had pulled into the garage, I told the kids that we needed to go into the house, turn on the lights in the backyard and then go out to see daddy so that he would know that we were home. My oldest son then informed me that Chance had already left the van and ran to the side of the house.

Chance's implants had both run out of batteries at his grandparents house (we should keep some there - duh), and the pack of batteries in the van were gone. So when we pulled into the garage, Chance did not hear me tell the kids about how daddy would not be able to see them in the dark.

I jumped out of the van and ran to the side of the house. Chance's dad was down at the farthest corner of the yard and there stood Chance right behind the bobcat and I could see that his dad had no idea that he was there. Chance's dad could not hear me over the nosie of the tractor and neither could Chance. Signing would not work because it was dark and Chance was not looking at me. Even if the implants had been working, Chance would have not heard me over the noise of the machine.

I started sprinting down the length of the house hoping that Chance would see me and run toward me or his dad would see me and stop the machine.

Thankfully, our neighbor was out in his yard too and he saw Chance. ( I am so grateful for him!) He was closer than I was and saw the situation. So he went up behind Chance and tapped him. I got there about that time and we got Chance to walk away with us and I whisked him back to the garage where the other kids had obediently waited.

We then went through the house, turned on the lights in the backyard and I went out to let Chance's dad know that we were home now. He stopped the machine, and then pulled his hood off and took out the earphones he had on. There was no way he could have heard anything while working.

I told him what had just happened with Chance and he was amazed. He had no idea that Chance, the neighbor or myself had been next to him as he worked. He then asked me how long ago it had all happened. I told him about 3 to 4 minutes ago. He stood there for a minute and then said that about 3 to 4 minutes before as he was working, the machine had refused to move. He kept trying to move it, but it would not budge. Then, after a few minutes, the machine started working again.

We have truly been blessed tonight and know that the prayers that we and others send up each day asking for Chance to be watched over are heard.