Today marks the day that Anderson has officially worn a patch more than half of his life. He has been wearing an eye patch more days in his life than he hasn't worn one.
I think that when he is 15 or so he will be on the other side of this, the side where he has worn an eye patch less in his life.
I am proud of him. I am proud of us. I am SO proud of us. It's harder on us. I really think it is.
The last few days have been really difficult with keeping the patch on. We've gone through 10 or more patches/day. (Thank goodness for Noni.)The positive of this is that it is not the norm anymore. The negative is that it is still really hard/annoying. I tell myself I am not going to give in, but it would be so easy to just give in for a few minutes. I only get to see him a few hours a day. I don't want to spend it forcing a patch on his eye. But, I do.
The fact that he talks ALL of the time is the most precious/fun thing ever. It has made life, in general, so much easier. He can tell us what he wants! (watch tractors, please!, more bread, me!) But, he can also tell us what he doesn't want. (NO eye pa! No, Aesson pa!) Usually the yelling is accompanied by covering his eyes with his hands. Pitiful.
BUT, (always a but) he is still perfect. P.E.R.F.E.C.T.
Probably the best way I can gauge our progress is by my reaction to Public. My gut reaction at first was pain, hurt and annoyance when someone stared at us in public. I noticed every curious glance. Worse, I noticed every sympathetic glance. I never volunteered info & thought it was rude if someone asked. Now, I literally don't notice stares at all. Someone asked me the other day what was wrong with his eye. I LOOKED DOWN TO SEE WHAT WAS WRONG ! Is that not hilarious? I forgot that to someone else the patch implied "wrong". I said, "Oh! He had a cataract so we have to patch his good eye to develop vision. We're so lucky we caught it! Tell everyone you know with kids to take them to the eye doctor!"
Every now & then I catch myself drifting back to the simpler time of no Eye awareness. Then, I come across pictures like this one & realize I think it was with us all of the time. I think it is more than ironic that Anderson's first pumpkin was decorated like a pirate with the patch on the right eye & everything! What on earth? This was a month or so before we started patching, so we were not aware of the foreshadowing. I love everything about this picture, but mostly the kid in it!
I am so right there with you, it's scary. I think you are all ROCK STARS!!! We have been struggling too with contacts and patching. What I have noticed most though is my own reaction to it all, I don't get as frustrated, as angry, as sad, as annoyed as before. I think we are all growing. Growing pains but growing. I've given in to the fact that it literally is just a day to day experience, some days are good and some arn't.
ReplyDeletePS. I look at pics before I read and I thought to myself... what a cute pic, he should have been patching just like his pumpkin!?! It's crazy how life works out. Even for me, all throughout my pregnancy I worried about Baby B... who knew it was Baby A that should have been concerned for?! Crazy.
Love him. I will buy him something.
ReplyDeleteDo we really have Taylor Swift to thank for guiding/reminding us about Anderson being a pirate? Right? It was the age of princesses and pirate ships? It is all part of the Best Day, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing! AMAZING! I think often of the CVS lady that is letting her daugher go blind. You are such a better mother than that!
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to think that this has always been foreshadowed but it really has!!
next time someone asks that say "nothing, what's wrong with your manners?"
ReplyDeleteI just discovered you on the little four eyes blog with the patching toddlers post and I was reading it crying. I needed to find this to get an update. Thank you again. I'm glad to see after a while, it will get easier or I'll at least accept it better than I do now.
ReplyDeleteI love that jack-o-lantern with the patch. He looks so little in this picture.
ReplyDeleteMindy, it does get better. I am not going to say it is easy. It is hard, but totally doable. I also patch my little boy. If you have any questions, email me @ missyadams@ymail.com. Good luck.