Shopping in general can be challenging after diagnosis with an Acoustic Neuroma. Shopping is a vestibular system work out- looking up and down and side to side while scanning shelves can make your brain have to put in a ton of effort on balance. There is just a ton of stimulation in general while navigating a store. I typically find shopping quite fatiguing, but with children along, it takes on another level of exhaustion.

For anyone, children are typically a challenge to bring along for a shopping trip. Invariably, they ask lots of questions, most of which are a variation on the theme of, “Would you buy this for me?” But when you have hearing loss, all the nonstop narration of the outing can really burn through your listening budget in a hurry. Children are also very likely to use poor conversation hygiene while shopping – running toward the thing they are excited about and shouting the details to you over their shoulder. Between trying to hear what the child is saying and being swamped by all the auditory stimulation of the shopping venue, I can feel hugely hearing fatigued after just one stop with children along.

Some solutions I utilize to help make shopping with children bearable:

• I don’t go into stores unless I really need or want to. One of the benefits of surviving the pandemic was learning lots of alternate ways to get what I need without contact. I frequently use online ordering and grocery pick-up as it is much less tiring inputting my order on a computer than walking the grocery store with my kids in tow.
• I tell my children to be quiet when I need to. Sometimes I am reading lots of details or thinking hard about the selection, and my children want to chatter about something unrelated to the decision process I am making. I just tell them I need them to be quiet for a moment to give me space to think. Then, after I complete the task, I circle back to what they wanted to tell me. Also, if their volume level gets too high because they are bored and goofing around, I just let them know that they need to stop.
• I lay out the parameters of the excursion in advance. I will tell them where we are going and what we are looking for while we drive to the store. I specify guidelines for the outing, such as we are only buying items on the shopping list today. That way, I get at least a reduction in the requests to buy things, and it helps to set the kids’ expectations.
• I try to assign the children tasks to keep them engaged. Obviously, this depends on the age and capabilities of your child. My eldest, I may give a small list and ask them to retrieve it and come back. My youngest, I may ask to help me search for something together. I find that keeping them engaged can help them focus and keep the loud shenanigans down.
• I have trained my kids to expect that I will not be able to sound locate because of my single sided deafness. They know they can’t call me to come “Here,” and that instead, they need to list a specific location. In general, I prefer they come to me rather than try to shout for my attention. While they sometimes forget, typically, they do a good job on this.
• I do, at times, rely on my children to help me when I miss things. My eldest especially notices when there is a miscommunication occurring and will feequently step in to clue me into what is happening or answer the other person for me.
• I give myself listening breaks. Typically, these breaks occur in the car as I travel, as I live pretty far from most shopping. I will put in ear plugs or noise canceling ear buds and take breaks from auditory stimulation.
• I plan for the hearing exhaustion afterward. I try to remember not to schedule too long a day or too many stops and that after we get home, I will be done for the day on productivity.

I’d love to hear your solutions to make shopping with children more pleasant.

May all your excursions have well-rested children with great attitudes and listening mindsets.