Alright ladies... it is time to ask @Sing2phins anything!!!
Also, I checked with Sing, and she is free to answer questions today... So since this is my AMA shout out.... I encourage everyone to ask lots and lots of questions!
Do you think that you and Kelly are on the coast opposite of me because the three of us would make a geographic region implode from too much awesomeness?
What made you decide to become an attorney?
What aspects of your parenting style are derived from the way you were raised? What parenting practices would you avoid completely?
Do you actually live IN DC or just in the metro area? Curious because my sister lives there too (they live in the District). We visit at least once a year, used to be more before LO.
Maybe you've said this before, but how did you lose your hearing? How much did you lose? How much does it affect your life?
This is kind of a long story, but the short version is: I lost all of the hearing in my right ear when I was 7 or 8. No one knows why and, in fact, no one - including me - knew until I had a hearing test at school. I was never sick, and since it was only one ear, I guess I never noticed. That didn't affect me at all, really, although I became a pretty good lip reader without realizing it.
When I was 25, overnight, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and again, no one knows why. When I went to Johns Hopkins for, like, a 4th opinion, the doctor there told me that usually when you lose the hearing in one ear as a kid, you almost always lose the hearing in the other ear later in life; it's like whatever causes the first loss just stays there and incubates for years, sometimes decades, and then attacks. I thought that was fucked up and wondered why no one ever told me that was possible. But then I realized that waiting for the other shoe to drop would have been a pretty shitty way to live life.
I got by with a hearing aid for about 10 months, and then, again overnight, lost even more hearing in the left ear. After that, my hearing aid was useless, so I had surgery to get a cochlear implant in August 2003. That has been amazing.
It does affect my life, though. A lot of my friends kind of disappeared after it happened because they didn't know what to say; I had CART - real-time captioning - to get through law school; I need captions on television and I rarely go to movies that aren't captioned (which is actually becoming much more prevalent that it was 12 years ago); I avoid talking on the phone as much as possible; at night, without my implant processor on, I don't hear Maggie, so I use a vibrating monitor (in the beginning, I slept with my processor on, which was really hard to do, but I stopped that after a couple of months when she was sleeping longer stretches); it's terribly hard for me to hear in crowded places; and lots of other things.
Agree... you are amazing. My SIL went completely deaf when she was a baby as a result of bacterial meningitis. She is very stubborn and refuses to wear her cochlear implants. She has two, soon to be three small children. She makes no effort to use correct sentence structure and is sometimes impossible to understand (even in writing) as a result. She never went to college and doesn't work because it seems she prefers to live off disability. (I understand college isn't for everyone; I'm just using it as an example of failed potential.)
I know you are not completely deaf, but all that to say ... I admire you because you are making it work despite your disability. You are an educated, successful woman. It must have been very emotionally painful to go through what you have.
Aside from baby-sitting? I worked eight summers in a row at King's Dominion starting when I was 16.
I still have this big stuffed mouse that I've had since I was little. No one has ever been able to tell it's a mouse (most people guess a bunny, but no: he has short ears and a long tail), and he's all threadbare and the rattle doesn't rattle anymore, and he's a faded, barely-pink pink now.
I went to kings dominion every summer up until I got pregnant with DD. From like 1997 to 2010
Re: Ask @Sing2phins Anything!
Biggest Vice?
Greatest Virtue?
What is the meanest thing you have ever said to someone else?
What exotic pet would you like to have?
What toy from childhood was your favorite?
What gives you hope for humanity?
If you could repeal one law, what would it be?
What made you decide to become an attorney?
What aspects of your parenting style are derived from the way you were raised? What parenting practices would you avoid completely?
Who is your best friend (besides DH,) and why do you consider them your best friend?
When have you seen Karma at work in your life?
If you could break one law with no consequences, legal or moral, what would you do?
I love you more than ever, but A has another ear infection and we're getting crushed by the cranky sleep boycotts!
I'm sorry Maggie is still having so much trouble with her RAD. It made me sad to read that. I hope she turns a corner very soon.
What smell brings you back to your childhood? Reminds you of DH?
I still have this big stuffed mouse that I've had since I was little. No one has ever been able to tell it's a mouse (most people guess a bunny, but no: he has short ears and a long tail), and he's all threadbare and the rattle doesn't rattle anymore, and he's a faded, barely-pink pink now.
I went to kings dominion every summer up until I got pregnant with DD. From like 1997 to 2010
Would you rather go topless for the next 2 weeks or never wear shoes again?