To continue off of my last post, let’s talk about what else is going on alongside the glasses wearing!
You may remember that Rowan’s poor vision was a big surprise for all of us, including Rowan. Conveniently, he really likes his glasses, so that hasn’t been a struggle. But he was incredibly apprehensive for wearing a patch, understandably. But we had talked a lot about it, and he knew there was no leniency with it. The rules are the rules. Patching at home, no matter what. Not at school, or church, or Saskatoon, or a friends house. But at home – always. Deal? Deal. So I showed him his options (He LOVES options now, whereas they used to overwhelm him horribly) and he chose some patches off of Amazon. They arrived before his glasses did, so they sat and waited for him. The evening he brought his glasses home, we left him to just adjust. That might’ve been just so cruel to force the patch on him that same day! But the next day, he came home from school, and we put the patch on.
And he cried and cried. It was horrible.
He begged to take it off but I just held him and let him cry really good and proper. I held him until he calmed right down. I offered him a freezie, and he was interested, but he was shaky on his feet and super bummed. He did NOT want to wear his glasses yet on top of his patch, but I persisted and convinced him it was truly the only way he would actually be able to see out of his left eye. So he gave in, got his glasses on, and got up. Immediately Laela told him how cool he looked. A VERY nice big sister move 💜 Rowan, upset, bypassed her compliment and sat at the island quietly with his freezie. I let him be. I did, however, join the party. It helped a little. You can see here that his glasses are all fogged up from crying 💜
After a while, Rowan asked quietly if he could pull out some lego. Once he was settled playing, Laela pulled out a game and went to sit with him. It was a pretty cute scene, because she didn’t really play as much as just be close to Rowan and give him some company. I LOVED it.
At the end of the day, he peeled the patch off on his own and was SO relieved. I won’t lie. It was a HARD start to the patching game.
The thing about wearing the patch 100% of his home time is that it includes the morning. So Friday morning, I made him a deal. Fabric patch in the morning, sticker patch in the afternoon and evening. And he happily agreed!
Fabric patches are more comfortable, but they have more room for error, so to speak. There are often little uncovered areas that kids can look around, or just move their glasses to see over the patch. Even subconsciously, the light getting under the fabric patch can distract from the process. They are good to have, but the sticker patches are ideal.
The afternoon came, and the kids made their way home from school. Rowan ran around and did his things – washing up, putting away his backpack, etc. – and then I heard him say “Time for a patch!”
😳
He was so casual about it! Like, it was no big deal. He chose his patch, and passed it to me. I didn’t make a stink about it, and just put it on his face and passed him his glasses. And he thanked me and took off to go play.
It. Was. Bonkers.
These children just surprise me absolutely constantly. Sometimes I’m ashamed of myself for being surprised at how amazing they are. They just get better and better.
Thank you Lord, for our experiences and for guiding us along the way! We are ONLY strong because of You!