Where, Oh Where Has That Hearing Aid Gone?

We've lost Isaac's hearing aid yet again. I thought it might be worthy of a blog post to make a list of where we have found Isaac's hearing aids. Here goes...

Places We've Found Them
Under the couches.
Under the bed.
IN the couch...deep within.
In the Lego bin.
In jacket pockets just before they go into the wash.
In the dirty clothes pile (just before it goes in the wash).
PS-they ARE NOT waterproof. :)
In the outside A/C unit. (I had to get the screwdriver and take the whole top off to get it out).
In the backyard.
In the frontyard.
INSIDE of a booster car seat. (He put it in the cup holder and then pushed the cupholder into the car seat base and it disappeared for days until we said a family prayer and found it right away).
While trimming the lawn.
In the bushes.
On the ledge in our backyard.
In toy baskets.
Under a rocking chair at Grandma's (days later).
At the bottom of a tall vase (luckily it was filled with fake flowers).
In the garbage (we've had to dig through several times. One time we even had to dig through a bag or two out of the outside garbage can).
Buried in the sand box.
In a bag full of grass clippings at the neighbor's house. (Our neighbor was mowing the lawn and Isaac didn't feel like wearing his hearing aids anymore so he just stuck them elbow deep into the open bag of grass clippings).
Under seats and in nooks and crannies in the car.
In dresser drawers.
In the corner of the gym at church under the stacking chairs.
Inside of a shoe in the shoe bin.
In the church bag in the closet.
In the snow in the backyard.
Under the trampoline.

I'm sure there are many more. I'll add to the list for posterity's sake when I think of more, but it's already pretty long. They are about 1 1/2" long and can be taken apart into 3 sections. We've lost all three sections on a number of occasions. Sometimes we've had to replace the more inexpensive parts because we can't find those but we have always found the blue (expensive) part. And when I say expensive, it really is expensive. Each hearing aid is $1500. So our wild, carefree toddler is almost always walking around with $3000 on his ears. A little crazy when you think about it.

Three days ago he jumped in the swimming pool with one still in. After he realized it was all wet, he pulled it out and threw it into the grass. Thankfully, he told me about it ("I jumped in the pool with my hearing aid and it got toduhwy wet so I took it out and frew it on the grass") so I told the kids to keep an eye out (I couldn't find it). Kate found it a few hours later. It didn't work. I dried it out and tried it again the next morning and thought it was working. It must not have sounded right because he took them out again and put them?????

I have to say the reason we have found it many times is because we have said a prayer. I know that might sound silly or inconsequential but it has truly been a faith-promoting experience because EVERY time we ask for help, we find it. Most of the time we find it quickly, but even when it takes a while, we always find it. And in some pretty crazy places, especially when you are looking for something so small that could be anywhere your toddler has been. It has really made me realize that the Lord cares about us no matter who we are and will answer our prayers even if it is for a lost hearing aid. I know how much they help Isaac and how much he needs them to understand the world around him.

Currently one hearing aid has been sent back to the manufacturer because it was broken. I found it buried under sand and water in the neighbor's sand box. I did my best to clean it out, but it never sounded the same after that. The other one is lost somewhere in our yard or house or car. I hope it's not in the yard because we just mowed and never found it. It's been missing for 2 days now. I'd better go get on my knees! :)