Sign Langauge: Santa

***I just want to say, we are not Santa people here.  We celebrate the birth of Christ each Christmas.  It bothers me that the school doesn't celebrate ANY holidays....but each December, they do Santa....(sigh).  I went on this field trip last year, very grumpy, but I came away with a new appreciation.***

Last year in November a note comes home saying that Aubrey's class will be taking a field trip to the mall and they will be seeing "Signing Santa" and then see/hear a Signing Choir.  She is supposed to put pictures of things she is asking Santa for in her book that they will take with them....We filled out her book and tried to get her to sign those words.

Fast forward to field trip day....this is the center of the mall where the "BIG man" was gonna be.  They make special arrangements with the mall to be the first ones to see Santa and all the schools with deaf education kids are there on that day.

The whole area is full of arctic animals.  Aubrey....measuring up = SHORT:)

She was totally unimpressed with the "ice chair".  You sit on it and it is like you are actually sitting on ice.  It was really cool!

Clearly, the falling snow in the area right before Santa was the highlight of her day!

So we finally make our way to Santa....TOTALLY unimpressed.  But I was thankful for Santa.  I was thankful that this gentleman cared enough to volunteer as Santa each Christmas because he knows sign language.  I was thankful, not because Aubrey said or signed anything to him, but because if she had wanted to, he would have understood her and her friends...THEY got to have a conversation with him.  

LANGUAGE is such a big deal.  Your ability to communicate and understand and be a part of the hustle and bustle of every day life.  It's important.  And whether or not I believe in Santa or what he represents, didn't matter.  What mattered is that this man thought enough of my little girl, that he came down to the mall and spent the day with our kids.  And that ranked pretty high in my book.

 Then we went to see the choir and I was almost in tears.  These kids spend MONTHS learning Christmas songs in sign language, so that they can put on a performance for my girl!  (and all the other deaf education kids:)  They had about 8 songs.

 It really was amazing and if felt so important to me, to find opportunities like this for her since she is hearing impaired.  As important as finding and supporting opportunities for her because she has Down syndrome.

Supporting and Advocating and Encouraging and Loving our kids, no matter what other labels come behind their name, is important. And when others go the extra mile to do those things for MY daughter, it touches my heart and I appreciate it.

Because even if they didn't say anything about that Santa or that choir, they felt important that day and they were able to really take it all in and enjoy themselves. 

To all our friends and family who treat Aubrey "normal", THANK YOU.

To all our friends and family who sign with her, even if it is just a couple words, you know how much she loves that.  The big smiles that she gives you, is her way of saying THANK YOU for "talking" to me:)

Signing Santa will be at Willow Bend Mall, Plano, TX on December 6th, 2012.  We will be there with bells on....if you want to join us!