Children's Eye Troubles

Ever since my daughter was about a year old people close to her started noticing that she seemed to have some sort of "lazy eye" going on.

I didn't really worry about it too much because her eye would only cross every once in a while and I had remembered my son having the same thing as a baby and he had grown out of it (Or so I thought... But more on that later). I chalked it up to her eye muscles not being strong enough yet. I figured that she would probably grow out of it as her eye muscles strengthened and became more developed. Well, she is now two years old and it has not gotten any better. I hesitate to say that it is worse, because I don't really think it has, just more or less the same. The right eye will kind of point inwards from time to time giving her a bit of a cross eyed/ lazy eye look. It does not stay like that and only does it for a spilt second, but it happens often enough for other family members to notice it and to cause me some worry.

In this pic you would never know she has a turned eye

 My son, Coder, started kindergarten this year and he teacher also asked me if he seemed to have trouble seeing. She asked this because, apparently, during class he would put his nose two inches from the paper when reading sometimes. I wasn't really sure what to make of this news because I draw and practice writing his ABC's with him all the time and have never seen him struggled to see the page. I thought maybe he was just horsing around or something because he does do random things like that sometimes (What kid doesn't?). However, he had been struggling in Kindergarten with his ABC's and reading so I figured it was time to get his eyes checked just to rule that out.

Well, I booked an appointment for him at my optometrist and brought him in for a checkup. After about an hour of pointing out shapes and animals and doing eye tests the optometrist told me that one of his eyes was, in fact, turned in slightly in as well. The good news is that his vision was really good considering having a turned eye. She said it is only slightly turned, not enough to notice just by looking at him. It was only visible when she checked it with her high-tech, eye tester thingy. So, apparently, he hadn't grown out of it as I had thought he did. She scheduled a follow-up appointment with him in a months time during which they are going to put drops in that can help correct it (I am not sure what the drops are exactly but I have to pay 30$ for them...I will find out more info when we go back). If the drops are unsuccessful then he may have to wear glasses for about a year or so. I asked if it would be just for school or reading but she told me that they would most likely have to be worn all the time. I am not really upset about this possibility because for one it is better to try to fix these type of things while children are still young. Plus, I wore glasses in elementary school and I honestly liked them. I loved going to the eye doctor to pick out my glasses and a cool matching glasses case. If he does end up needing them I will be doing the same thing my mother did, which is including him in the entire process of picking out his glasses (after I narrow it down to a few affordable pairs first) and a matching case, show him how to clean them and take care of them and all that jazz.

The machine that confirmed Coders turned eye

 I will admit that I am a bit worried for his appointment though because the drops that they are putting in will make his eyesight extremely blurry for about an hour. I feel that not being able to see anything will scare him and he may think that it is going to stay like that forever regardless of what we tell him, thus causing him to freak out. It can't stay blurry forever, can it? It makes me a tad anxious too... I guess the only thing I can do is be there for him, explain the process and what to expect as well as I can, reassure him that it won't stay that way and just be there for him. Oh, and hope for the best.

As for my daughter, she is supposed to go back the same day as Coder (although I think I may change their appointments for separate days because I don't wanna get stuck with a toddler AND a five year old having meltdowns at the same time.) I already know that she has the same problem with one eye being turned. I am worried because I know hers is much worse, and is way more noticeable day to day, even by other people like family members and close friends. I am preparing myself for the fact that she will more then likely need glasses or some type of intervention to try to correct it. I only hope that nothing else is wrong with her eyes or that it isn't the result of something more serious.

Glasses are specially made for toddlers/babies

 I try to tell myself that stuff like this is common and happens to all kinds of children, but it is still hard as a mother to see anything wrong with your children. I can't help thinking it may have been something I had done that caused it. I mean BOTH of my kids have the same thing wrong with their eyes. Bad eyesight does run in my Hubby's family, however, and I am not quite sure if that could be a factor. I am worried about my daughter needing glasses because she can be so defiant that I just cannot see her keeping them on. I am worried she will have a freak out if we try to make her wear them. But I have to try to not get ahead of myself and always envision the worse.  I will just have to deal with it, if and when the time comes. Good eyesight is very important because it affects so many aspects of your life.   I am just glad that we were able to catch this while they are still young, because these types of things can be more difficult to correct as they get older. Plus, if left untreated these types of conditions often become worse or untreatable.

**QUICK TIP** You can check if your child has a lazy or turned eye at home by sitting them directly in front of you have having them look straight ahead while you shine a pen light straight into their eyes. If the dot of light reflects in the same spot in the center of each pupil then their eyes are straight. However, it if reflects straight in one eye and then slightly to the left or right in the other eye, then that eye is turned and you should bring them to see the eye doctor to have them assessed. This is is a trick that you can use to confirm whether or not your child has a cross eye or lazy eye, but it is NOT meant to replace an actual diagnosis by an optometrist. If you suspect an issue with your child's eye sight you should get them checked by a licensed optometrist as soon as possible.

So that is that latest news with the kiddos. Do any of you mommy's have children or babies that wear eye glasses? Is it difficult to get a toddler to wear them? Has you child ever had an issue such as cross eyes or lazy eyes? Was it corrected? Any info on this subject or personal stories would be greatly appreciated. I just hope that it can be treated while they are young and that it doesn't have a negative impact on their eye sight as they grow older...I will keep you all updated on the situation once I bring them to their next appointment.

Thursday Tidbits: Mr. Snowman Needs some mittons!!

First off I wanna say that I am so incredibly proud of Coder. He had his very first school Christmas concert on Monday and it was A-freakin-DORABLE!! All the kindergarteners sang a song about building a snowman to the tune of "If your happy and you know it" and it went along the lines of "Mr. snowman needs a hat, needs a hat (2X) Mr. Snowman needs a hat. Oh, fancy that! Mr. Snowman needs a hat, needs a hat!" For each part they had props and actions to do. Put on a hat for the hat part, put on sunglasses for the eyes, put on their mittens for the mittens part and so on. They also had to clap twice at the end of each verse. This is a lot going on for an adult, let alone a five year old!

Now keep in mind that Coder is often terribly shy in front of strangers and that night there was a full house of parents. I was kinda worried he would have stage fright and burst into tears or something.  However, he got off to a great start singing, clapping in time and putting his hat and glasses on. Then somewhere around the halfway mark things went downhill. He kind of froze like a deer in headlights, only snapping out of it long enough to clap when he noticed the other kids clapping. Then the cutest part ever was when he bent down to put his mittens on and could only find one He was spinning around and around on his knees trying to find the other. It was too cute!  Too be fair though, many of the other kids were doing random things too. Everything from kids dancing like a spastic chicken to excavating their noses was featured. At the end of the performance when I went and got him and asked how it was he kept saying, "Good but I didn't like the dark." I think what he means is that because the spotlights are so bright when they shine on you that when you look away into the audience everything looks black. I have a feeling that this freaked him out a bit. But oh, how it melted my heart to see him in his little Christmas suit on stage. Apparently, it melted everyone elses hearts too because the kindergartners got a HUGE standing ovation at the end of their performance. They most definitely stole the show!!

I also had Nelly with me in the audience, and she was putting on a show of her own for everyone in our general vicinity. She kept trying to play Peek-a-Boo with the woman behind us. Bless that lady, she played right along with it, much to Nelly's enjoyment! There was also a huge snowman on stage that she kept screaming "NOMAN!!" at. Then every time a new class would come on stage to perform she would alternate between yelling "WHERE SANT-Y CLAUSE?" and dancing on the seat. They were the fold down seats like at a hockey rink and she was barely heavy enough to keep it open. I had to keep part of my leg on her seat so it wouldn't swallow her up.

The only shitty part of the night was that my p.o.s camera was dead so I couldn't get any pictures. This really ticked me off. Apparently my camera will only work with top of the line batteries and even those only last a few hours. I bought some Panasonic batteries at the dollar store, planning to take pics at the concert. Yeaaaa, they wouldn't even turn the damn camera on!! I tried some Energizer ones (they are the type you push a button to test and it shows how much 'juice' is left in them) that were over half full and still no dice. It was a major disappointment because his look so friggin' cute. My sis-in-law did manage to get one pick of his class performing and you can see him in it but it is from pretty far back so it isn't the best picture. I'll post it when she sends me a copy. Would have loved to have close up pics but what can ya do?




                                                                                                                                                                       

Report Card Day

Being hella busy the last few weeks preparing for the holidays, I totally forgot that today was report card day for Coder until I pulled the brown envelope out of his book bag. Oops! Coder was struggling quite a bit at the beginning of the year with his alphabet and number recognition among other things. I will take part of the blame for this. While I did try to point out the ABC's around the house and while we were out and about, I never really made him sit down and review them or practice regularly. My bad! He has also never been in any type of daycare or preschool, which obviously gives a head start to the basics of kindergarten. Throw on top of that the fact that he is terribly shy with new people and unfamiliar situations and it is easy to see why he was having some difficulty. The teacher actually came right out and told me he was the lowest in the class. Ouch! In that moment I felt like a parenting failure. It was kind of hard for me to accept the fact that he was struggling the most in the class because he is such a bright child. He has an amazing vocabulary and is very aware of his surroundings. He is very good at explaining things and expressing his wants and needs. But I knew it was the truth. I had seen it myself first hand. I would ask him, "Cody, what letter does the word 'cat' start with?" and he would looks me square in the eye and say, "Seven?" Ummm, no.

 The first thing I did was schedule a meeting with the teacher to see exactly what he needed to work on and how I could help him at home. I was told the main things he needed to improve were letter and number recognition, letter sounds, and printing his letters and numbers. She gave me a list of activities I could do at home to help him improve. I was told to work on these things for only about 5-10 minutes a day so he didn't get "learning burnout" and end up hating it. So being the good mom I am I went out and bought every single letter and number toy I could find. Well, not really, but I did get a few including my personal favorite,  the Match It! ABC self-correcting (?) puzzle, shown below (which he LOVES and will play with for like an hour straight! No small feat for a kindergartener). I also picked up an ABC border for his room, some flash cards, a few alphabet coloring and activity books and some alphabet fridge magnets.

The plan was for it to seem more like play then school work. I'm smart like that.Anyways, after about a month of working at home I am very proud to tell you that the teacher has reported major improvement in Coder. I am so proud of him! He still has a ways to go but now he gets more letters right then wrong when asked to identify them. He can now print his own name without any help. He counts to ten no problem, sometime past ten to almost twenty! He knows the sounds to many of the letters and can identify many just from hearing the letter sound. I like to think the improvement is a direct result of my tutoring him daily, however, I'm sure that a big part of it is that he is now a lot more comfortable in class with his teacher and peers and with the classroom setting in general. A few things I was told he had trouble with he would do no problem at home when asked.. I think he just sorta clammed up when put on the spot and the pressure to perform wigged him out. Whatever the reason, I am very pleased with him.

Now, back to the report card. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the results. Because he is in kindergarten, the report cards are not graded with the standard A for Excellent, F for Fail, type of system. Instead, for each subject the teacher comments on the students progress, what they have mastered and what still needs work. Then they are graded on each goal for the term (such as "Can clearly print name," "Can count and create sets with 1-5 objects," and so on) They are given a check mark for each task. Either "Most of the time," "Some of the time," or "Not Yet," are checked. I am not going to list the full results as that would take forever but he did pretty well. He did pretty good on each section (Math, Language Arts, and Personal Growth. He got all "Most of the time" checks in personal growth. In the Math and LA he got about 50/50, half very good and half needs improvement. I am actually very pleased with this though because truthfully I was expecting much worse. The final section he is graded on is "Social and Emotional Development and Work Habits," which includes things like "Pride in doing work," and "Cooperation with others." He got an 'E' in every single task in this category, which is the best grade you can get and stands for Excellent! So proud!

All in all I would say that he had a pretty decent first term. I was so worried about how he was going to adjust to school since he had never been away from me since birth and can be pretty shy, but he has totally surprised me with how well he has adjusted. He also now attended a special help class in the resource room twice a week for one on one help. It is amazing to me how much he has grown and become his own person. He truly loves school and is always telling me about his new "big kid" friends (oh god) or what he has done that day. I still forget that he is in kindergarten sometimes and will run around frantically searching for him until I remember he is in school. My baby is growing up so fast! *Wipes tear* I like it though because it gives me time to bond with Nelly-poo, who is only two. She misses big brother while is gone and will frequently ask me "Where brah-doo?" which is how she pronounces brother. So damn cute! Another thing I love about him being in school is I get to let my inner Martha out and make adorable goodies for his class on holidays and help out with school activities. See the super-cute gift I am giving his teacher for Christmas HERE. Now that the report cards are out of the way I have Christmas break to look forward to! Almost two weeks of sleeping later and not freezing my buns off walking him to school. That's a Christmas gift in itself!