The Tale Of The Treasure Ball Pinata or Why We Don't Hand Our Blindfolded Deaf Children Sticks

Often when people find out we have a Deaf son they react with sympathy. I think that might be because they can't imagine life with out sound so it must be a tragedy. For our family the reverse is true so although we are used to this reaction it always startles us a bit. Now don't get me wrong my son does have challenges, the biggest at the moment is the state of his bedroom. He suffers from a common syndrome called Cleanaphobia.

Another challenge we encountered on our journey was you should never blindfold your Deaf child and hand them a large stick. When he was three we went to a birthday party attended by all Deaf kiddos. They played musical chairs ( a scarf is dropped to cue them into chair chaos) painted faces and got freaked out by the clown. Then it was time for the pinata. It became clear to me this was not the safest way to entertain this crowd when we couldn't get close enough to stop one child swinging at random nearly missing grandma. At that moment I came up with the idea for Treasure balls.

The concept is simple. The child kicks or tosses it around until the treasure pours out. I often find the parents are less patient then their children so I often provide counseling upon purchase. I remind them the joy of playing with the ball is a fun activity in itself. For some folks I recommend not telling the child of the treasure within. In one case a mama bought one at a Christmas fair and followed my suggestion and reported back that it wasn't opened until summer resulting in gleeful screams.

I offer these in my Etsy shops and I always welcome custom orders.

haddy2dogs.etsy.com

stellybenelley.etsy.com