Things We Love...Ear Protection

O.K....so I don't really love ear protection.

But...

I love my hearing enough to like ear protection.

This post contains affiliate links.

Ear protection is a hot topic around our house.

I am sure everyone has someone in their life that has hearing problems.  

I have many in my life that have hearing problems.

For as long as I could remember, my grandma had hearing problems.  I was fairly young when she got her hearing aids.  She was a great sport about them and even prided herself on being able to play Jingle Bells with them.  

She had the type that squealed when the battery was low, when you gave her a hug and of course when we were in church.  

But, I also remember all the conversations she missed.  

My grandma lived with us for 4 years before she moved into the nursing home.  During those years, she sat around the dinner table with us each night.  It was not unusual for us to be having a serious conversation and then she would burst out laughing.  She would say "do you know how funny you all are?"

The words that we were saying registered as something completely different to her impaired ears.  She always found opportunities to laugh about it, but she was missing out on important parts of her life.

​While she was there with us in person, conversations became almost impossible.  It was frustrating for us and I know devastating to her to not be able to communicate with those she loved.

Hearing aids have come a long way over the years.  They are like mini computers that even have blue tooth capabilities.  

While it is wonderful to be able to help those that have lost hearing, it is so much better to preserve the hearing that you already have.  

That is why ear protection is so important to our family.  

A post shared by 4 Wiley Farm (@4wileyfarm) on Aug 29, 2014 at 12:09pm PDT

From a young age, our boys have worn ear protection.  

It was out of safety for our little ones, that Daniel realized the importance of preserving his hearing. 

It may not be pretty or popular to put on some ugly and bulky ear muffs, but it is so essential.  

Life is full of loud noises, but on a farm almost everything is loud.

Farm life does have those peaceful and serene evenings of sitting on the porch and watching the sunset or gazing at cattle grazing in the fields, but the days are full of loud tractors and equipment.  

A post shared by 4 Wiley Farm (@4wileyfarm) on Mar 26, 2016 at 9:26am PDT

Our John Deere 720 is very loud.

I mean really loud.

Like the neighbors over a mile away can hear the tractor running.

Maybe it has something to do with that straight pipe they put on it.  

It does sound pretty...that is until your brain starts shaking.

Over the years, we have become more and more conscious of the noise of the equipment.  

Once you get used to wearing ear protection, you can't stand to not wear it.  

I can't count the number of times I have gotten a call to bring ear muffs out to the field.  They forgot to grab the ear muffs when they left the house and as soon as they start the equipment, they can't stand the noise.  

We have many sets of ear muffs around the farm.   We try to keep a pair hanging on the gear shift or steering wheel of each tractor.  

When they are handy...or in the way...you are much more inclined to slip them on.  

This summer I was blow drying cattle.  I finished and walked away, but my ears were ringing horribly and I couldn't hear what anyone was saying.  

We are used to loud cattle barns, but it wasn't until that moment that I realized how loud the blowers are.  
We are going to add a pair of ear muffs to our blower cart this year. 

The boys are objecting...but they don't have a choice. 

"But no one else wears hearing protection at the cattle shows!"

I don't care.

Maybe we will start a trend.

I used to be hesitant to wear hearing protection in some situations because I was afraid we wouldn't be able to communicate in an emergency.  For instance, cutting trees down in the woods.

However, we had a group trap shooting a few weeks ago and everyone had some sort of ear protection.  While the ear protection was great at muffling the gun noise, it did not hinder any of us from holding a conversation.

We had to work a little harder and look right at the person, but we all managed.  

It is a whole lot better to work at conversation temporarily than to struggle with every conversation for the rest of your life.  

Below are links to some affordable ear protection. ​

We are definitely going to be adding to our stock of ear protection this year.  There is no reason to not have a spare pair in the truck, one on each tractor, one on the lawn mower, several in the gun cabinet and a few extra on the work bench just in case.  

God only gave us two ears.

When those two ears are impaired, your life is impaired.

Just sit next to someone you know that has hearing problems.  

Watch them struggle to hear the conversation.

Watch an outgoing person sit in silence because they can't follow the conversation.

Hearing aids can help, but they can only help so much. 

I have had too many relationships affected by hearing loss to take my hearing for granted.

Hearing protection is non-negotiable around here.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post.  For more information see disclosure here.

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