Poor Boy has had a runny nose for going on a month now. The other day while we were at my parents' he was munching on a bowl of Kix. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed him walking around with something on his face and, upon closer inspection, realized it was two Kix stuck in his boogers. Definitely tucking this one away as well for teenage humiliation.
Bean had her 2 month eye check up the same day. Their office is so kid-friendly. After every appointment they give the kids a token to one of those prize-dispensing machines that commonly front grocery stores and restaurants. I remember loving those as a kid. Bean is no exception. She's always pretty good anyway, but if she ever needs additional motivation, I just remind her that there is a prize token waiting on the other end of the visit. It usually does the trick.
This particular day, Bean passed up the princess jewels and bouncy balls for...a fake mustache. Of course I made her put it on right away so I could take a picture!
Unfortunately this visit didn't have the outcome we'd hoped for. She's been patching for almost 5 months now. She wasn't getting the response from wearing her glasses alone, so her doctor had us start putting these patches on her right eye (her good eye) for 2 hours a day, hoping to force the left eye to start working. They are sticky, kind of like band-aids that go over the eye. And she HATES them. She's cried and whined for the better part of 2 hours every day that she's worn the patch. And she does this weird right-side facial paralysis thing where she won't smile and she chews on her fingers practically the whole time.
I honestly can't blame the kid, either. Trying to put myself in her shoes, I've closed one eye to see how long I can stand it. I usually don't last longer than a couple of minutes. And I have nearly perfect eyesight! I can't imagine how Bean, who can hardly see out of her left eye, does it.
Back to this particular visit: we were told that her left eye had been responding, but that it hadn't progressed as far as it should have. He then told us that we would have to start patching her for 3 hours a day. My heart sank. Two hours was miserable enough--I couldn't imagine having to do 3! Plus, 3 hours to a 4-year old is a huge chunk of their day! I felt so bad for her...
But oddly, something must have clicked in her mind at that appointment because when I sat her down to explain that we would have to do it a little bit longer now, she was, like, 'Yeah, I know mommy.' And since we've started, while she still doesn't like it, she only complains for maybe 15 minutes now and is fine with it the rest of the time. So I don't know what happened on her end, but it hasn't seemed as bad--even though it is an hour longer a day.
Another thing I've found that has helped is giving her some time to play on the iPad. She loves it and I actually have her do it so that it is really working her left eye. She's doing great!
The manufacturers of the eye patches we buy are geniuses--they have come up with these posters where you put your used eye pad each day and, ultimately, fill in the design on the poster. The one she just finished is a picture of a princess. Right now she's working on filling up a poster of a pirate ship. Pirates. Patches. How fitting.
