hurdles [over reacting]

lesson learned.

I was so worried about stella wearing her patch and keeping it on and well, she's kind of obsessed with it. the first day was rough and she tore off two in a row, but I wore one the whole time allotted and we watched Frozen together. *NOTE momma doesn't watch TV with the little person much. I hate cartoons, but I do like Frozen and my child's eyes are worth it haha.

I texted my mom saying something dramatic about her taking it off and she came over with her brilliant idea. basically, my mom is awesome. she's resourceful and creative. she came up with the ultimate Patch Bag!

What is the Patch Bag you ask? in short: a bag of junk.
stella loooooves trinkets and knick-knacks so this was pretty much the perfect fit for her. (this could be modified to the likings of other children of course). my mom filled this bag with random shit. old key chains, bunny statue, bouncy ball, rosary, 3 magnetic marbles, and honestly I don't even remember what's in there because it's going so well, BUT...
one is only allowed to play with the items in the beloved Patch Bag if they are wearing a patch. stella caught on very quickly. she would wake up in the morning and ask for something in the Patch Bag so we'd slap one of those on there and as long as the items were out the patch stays on. the rest is history.

We were, for a small amount of time, "overpatching" because we only needed to do 2 hours a day. Well, stella wanted the items like all day long so there were days she'd wear it 8:30 - 4:30 pm or so. I called the ophthalmologist to check because I didn't want to compromise her other eye in the interim. the receptionist was very impressed with her cooperation and said the doc wanted to move up her appointment since she was getting in more hours per week. we go back at the end of the month.

I didn't think this would be the case, but she actually sees better in some ways with the patch on. she doesn't have to focus on using two eyes together (which is the ideal goal in the end after all of this and probably surgery), but she can use the weaker eye without winking. I will say, as soon as I take the patch off a lot of the time she winks still, but less. ...and I don't know it could be bc the sunlight is bright. she can't really communicate that, but we are hoping for good progress since she's been pretty much an awesome patcher. it's just part of the routine now. I give her two clothing choices and two patch choices. this way she can feel like she is part of the decision of what she will sport.

  

as for the glasses, so far so good! she's doing great and I'm so proud of her!  I'm pleasantly surprised about her cooperation with these as well. john and I (and caregivers) have been wearing glasses around so she's been getting used to them the past few weeks and remember when I said my mom is awesome? well, she did some (a lot, like read a whole book and tons of articles already) research on stella's eye issues and also brought over some rad children's books about glasses. check out the below. I would highly recommend these to anyone going through something similar with a young child.

When I gave her the glasses to put on I told her I had a surprise for her. I made it sound like something really exciting was about to happen and she was lucky to have them. she wore them for a little while, but then wanted to wear mine and grandma lori's instead. I explained that only stella can wear her special glasses and they are like her special super hero glasses. she liked that. the first day she wore them pretty much the whole day and has been wearing them ever since without complaints. 
did she take them off here and there? yes.
I'm not sure if she's bored, they hurt or she just sees them and gets curious.

right now when they come off I've been saying "hey hey get those back on!" or "where's your glasses? stella has to wear her glasses if she wants to do __________." she's obeyed pretty well today. we got these miraflex kind and they are great for small kids or the kids who you find chewing on their glasses after a little bit (ahem, stella). I've also added in a small reward system. it's not really a system tho because with her having to wear them all day minus the car and sleep, I don't want her to think she will get a reward every hour etc.

so today I gave her some mnm's. and by some I mean, 3. at different points through out the day I said "here's a special treat for wearing your glasses." or "thank you for wearing your glasses. you are doing a really good job. here's a small treat."
go ahead, make fun of me, but she doesn't get candy that often (if she were your child you wouldn't want her high on sugar either, believe me!) so 1 mnm here and there actually is something. I don't anticipate keeping this up all the time, but just a couple a day to let her know she's doing well.

what's hardest on me is I feel like I keep watching her every move. it's like her glasses are her medicine only she has to take her medicine all day long. I'm hoping this will subside some. I'm trying to balance not being a 'helicopter mom' with the glasses too. it's hard, but it's only been a day. I don't want to constantly every day nag her to put on her glasses to make them into something annoying or negative, but right now it's working this into her routine, like adding it to getting dressed, like a clothing item. before I know it she may not have a care in the world about these.

and see above: lesson learned. don't over react or project. I was so worried about all of this, and to be honest she blew me away on both thus far. kids really are more resilient than those silly adults.
 

I think she looks pretty darn cute in them too.