The fifteen minutes after the Kid got his eye drops put in. He screamed and thrashed so much I ended up having to hold him down, and afterward I gave him a lollipop, put earphones on him (Disney’s Mary Poppins soundtrack), and rocked him my lap. As he gets older I don’t get many time like that with him where I’m allowed to actually comfort him, but it was really special today.
Kid’s eye appointment.
Long story short the Kid has poor binocular vision. Because of that (and the slight amblyopia in his left eye) we’re supposed to patch like demons for the next month to get the eyes as close to each other in stats as possible (the right is 20/30, the left is 20/40). Then we do the surgery (not scheduled yet).
This is NOT a cosmetic fix – if we don’t get the surgery, the Kid will never develop binocular vision (he had it at his 15 month checkup, so the doctor is confident he can develop it again after the surgery gets the eyes tracking together). The insides of the Kid’s eyes look “great”, i.e. no underlying diseases.
The doc said there’s a 20% chance the first surgery won’t work (the eyes would either continue turning inward or start turning out), and that they’ll have to do another. That could take place anywhere from six months to thirty years, however, and there’s really no way to know whether or not the Kid will be one of the 20%.
This is all totally different from what his current eye doctor said, including the biggest surprise: there’s a chance the Kid might not even need glasses after we’re totally done.
All that really matters is getting his eyes to work together.
The Kid did a fantastic job (appointment time was four hours), and I feel much, much better about everything.
A song.
Every book I’ve written has a song or two that could basically serve as its soundtrack. The first book was heavily tied to both “What It Is to Burn” by Finch and “Overcome” by Live. This latest work-in-progress has adopted “Flowers in December” by Mazzy Star for its theme song. It’s a beautiful piece of music, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it since I heard it yesterday. It fits both the main heroine and where she lives pretty perfectly.
Movie recommendation.
The movie is called Ink. It’s one of the most visually beautiful movies I’ve ever seen, and the storyline(s) are wrenching. Lots of action sequences, too.
Still learning.
Today the Kid and I had school this morning and talked about families: what they encompass, why they’re important, et cetera. I incorporated teaching him how to write the number ‘2′ into it (two grandmas, two cousins), and then he painted a picture that had him rescuing worms (from what I have no idea).
We wrote words on the chalkboard, spelling random family-related words. He’s *really* good at writing letters, which is hilarious, because he absolutely hates it (unless I get very creative, like when we write on the chalkboard). He thinks too much about some of them, though, getting tripped up on the details (like an R having two lines…he will write the two lines then forget what to do after that to make it look like a letter). I think the more comfortable he gets with his skills the more confidence he’ll find.
At the end we wrote a list of things each person in our family needs to do differently to help each other. For me, the Kid wrote I needed to listen better, stop raising my voice, and play with him more. For himself he came up with listen more, stop whining, be nicer, and be more positive. Mike’s list consisted of things like “play more Legos” and “draw with the Kid”. I think it really helped clarify what the Kid needs from us to feel like a cherished part of the family.
This transition to homeschool has been rough on all of us for all sorts of reasons, but I feel today like we’re finally getting a grip on how to handle it. I know I do better working in the morning and playing in the afternoon. After breakfast I give the Kid an hour to play while I take my shower and get washes started, then we do our school-type stuff. I also found that working on my book solely on the computer pretty much guarantees I get nothing done, so I’ve started printing out chapters, working on them on paper, then inputting them into the computer the next day. It’s helped *immensely*, and I’m making serious progress.
The next few weeks are going to be absolutely insane: birthdays, surgery consults, playdates, and the usual day-to-day chaos. Hopefully April will see things start to slow down again. At least it’s become gorgeous outside! Sun, warmer temps, and the promise of Spring is always appreciated :)
For the next week.
We’re going to learn about the ear (the Kid asked me about that today) and short vowel sounds. I want to move him forward from basic letter sounds so that he can start learning how to read at some point.
