You are a Beginner in your journey nurturing your young DHH child.
You are new to this journey, and you’ll be new to it for a while. Take a deep breath.
You have likely never met a DHH person before.
You are full of overwhelming love, joy, and gratitude for this little one in your care…AND you are also full of many other emotions on a daily basis.
All of this is real. All of this is true.
You can honor this “AND” in your nurturing journey. In all of life, we hold the LIGHT and the DARK. Rarely do we get the opportunity to have all of one or all of the other.
Being a Beginner can be hard. FULL STOP.
Beginnings are full of uncertainty, confusion, steep learning curves, unexpected changes, and fluctuating feelings.
It may seem like each day contains new challenges…new layers of grief to wade through…new terminology…new resources and options…new faces and appointments (Who does what again?! And what is this test all about?)…new demands on your time, energy, heart, and mind (because nurturing a little one isn’t already exhausting enough!).
Being a Beginner is one of the most vulnerable experiences we can have as humans.
You love your child so very much, and you want to nurture well.
You want to do it all right.
You want to meet all of your baby’s needs.
You want to be fully present.
You want to savor this fleeting time.
You want to make all the best decisions.
AND…you wonder if you have what it takes to accomplish any of these goals.
Being a Beginner can require us to sit in great discomfort.
It is uncomfortable (at best!) to not know all the things about all the things. It is downright painful to sit in uncertainty day after day.
It is daunting to see a long life-road ahead of you and not have a clue how you are going to walk it.
And to do all of this on behalf of a child you love more than life itself? WHOA.
Being a Beginner requires patience for the learning process...and the unique paces of you and your DHH child.
Beginners have to fight the inner messages that say, “You should already know everything,” and, “You’re probably going to mess this up.”
We have to replace these lies with a focus on growing in confidence, confidence that only comes from taking brave and risky steps forward: in your love, in your intuition, in your expertise in your DHH child, in your support system, in your trust in caring professionals who desire to come alongside you and light your journey with each step.
Being a Beginner invites us to make decisions…to experience victories and mistakes…to make adjustments…and to keep trying.
Decisions, victories, and mistakes all lead to growth.
Trial-and-error is a very acceptable way to learn! (How do you think your little one learns about the world?!)
We can embrace the freedom to keep giving something our best, and to watch and wait on the outcome.
We can rely on our growing intuition to know when changes need to be made.
We can trust ourselves to be resourceful, to gather new information, and to rally extra supporters when necessary.
