Glasses

A couple of months ago at her well-child check-up, Princess struggled at the eye exam. I watched her fidget and cheat to pass off one eye. The medical assistant quickly brushed it off and told me she passed and was fine.

WHAT?!? Did you really just watch the same thing I did.

Over the next couple of weeks I would test her with each eye at various things in the house to see what I thought. She definitely struggled with one eye, but then, she had always wanted glasses.

I decided to make an eye appointment much to the chagrin of my husband.

It was quite an eye opening experience. As I sat there and watched her struggle to read some things and even get inches in distance from it, I really started to panic that she might actually be almost blind in one of her eyes. Yikes.

Turns out she has amblyopia of her left eye. Basically a lazy eye, or truly "lazy brain". So, she has to have glasses, with the left lens being quite a bit thicker than the other. She was so excited to get her glasses and knew exactly which ones she wanted. THE PINK BARBIE ONES! Of course.

Glasses on kids are quite an interesting thing. It is one of those things that makes them a little different than most. I tried to warn her that kids might make fun of her and some may not like them. She just didn't see how that could be an option. She loved them and thought she was pretty special as she got to carry her hot pink "purse" barbie glass case out of the store.

Then it started to happen. Her little friend told her she looked "weird" in the glasses and she didn't like them. It was new to see her in them, so rightly so. She started to question herself in them. There are definitely days when she has a harder time wearing them others, but for the most part she has been good about it. I am just hoping it helps. The doctor said we might have to do patch therapy at home if it doesn't improve.

It is amazing at the age of 5 how one can become self conscious so quickly. Kids can be mean, but I don't know that it is always done knowingly. If something is new or different it is hard to know how to react. If anything, it has helped taught me to help my children to recognize these things and to be sensitive to it. I think kids more than anything just tend to ignore those things that are new, but that doesn't always make the situation better. So many adults would recognize the fact that she had glasses and that they liked them. But I felt like had a child said that to her, she would have been floating on cloud nine. I think she just needs some acceptance from those her own age.

It is amazing how hard it is for children to reach out of their element and to say something like this. My own kids are horrible at it. I just hope that with a little time and coaching, my own kids can move past this fear and reach out to someone who might need a little pick me up. A compliment can go a long way.

I am the Golfing Queen

We headed down to sunny St. George a few weeks ago for Brett's spring break. It was a short trip, way to quick, and not all that sunny.

T-man got a new set of clubs for his birthday and has been dying to try them out. We decided to try them out first at the driving range, but the girls wanted a chance to golf as well.

Princess was so funny to watch. After one of her better shots, she turned, with hand on hip and other hand snapping to the zig zag, declared: "Oh yeah, I am the Golfing Queen". I don't even know where she comes up with these things.

T-man went and shot 9 with the boys on Monday. He loves it and hopefully will be a better golfer than his dad someday.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

I know that is how the saying goes. I only wish it were true in my case. That sounds awful. Let me explain.

I have a friend (Hey Nancy) who loves animals. She even majored in Zoology. She had a post recently about her chicken that lives in her window well. It made me laugh. She is just so witty and clever. Who could make writing about a chicken in a window well funny, well, she can. So, when I write this post, I realize it isn't going to be witty or clever. I am going to come across as anything but charming....because I, unlike Nancy, do not love animals, nor do I even remotely like them; in fact, I shun away from them. My biggest fear in this story was actually finding the animal and having to touch it. I definitely would have had to enlist the help of some of the neighbors.

I have always disliked animals. Even as a child. I used to have a cat that liked to sleep on my bed and I would take my covers and like the big parachute game we all played in P.E. I would send that cat flying like the ball in the middle. When we went on our cruise to the Caribbean, we were told swimming with the stingrays was a must. So my husband and I decided to give it a try. I got in the water and very careful get my extremities close to me and as a stingray got closer, I inched a way. I finally got back in the boat and watched from above. I got some great pictures of Brett though. The thought of something touching me in the water gives me the heebie jeebies. I used to hate waterskiing for that very reason.

I have had a stray cat who comes and goes living in my backyard. I don't really care all that much other than the number of droppings it has left behind to let me know it is there. Drives me crazy that I can't even walk in my backyard without watching where I step. Good thing the snow has melted so I can go clean it up.

A few weeks ago I sent the kids out back to play. Kk came bolting in screaming and crying with Princess hot on her tails. I thought for sure someone had died. The verdict: the "titty tat". It had gone bolting out of the playhouse sandbox when it realized its shelter was being invaded by a bunch of loud children. I had to laugh. My kids are all extremely afraid of animals.

Friday as I went out to get in my car I found some of those droppings I was talking about, in my garage. The kids had left the garage opened for a little bit the day before. I guess curiosity got the better of the cat and it invited itself into my garage. I was watching tv that night when I heard a clang coming from the garage. I quickly went to investigate and when I opened the garage door I saw the cat run into the ultimate chaos of our garage. There would be no way of finding that night. I finally decided if I wanted to salvage anything from my garage I should try and get it out before it did its bodily functions all over the place. Eleven o'clock at night and I am out there in pj's, both garage doors open, beating my stuff with a broom. It must have been a sight to behold.

No luck. I thought it was out. I had checked its usual hiding place in the back yard a couple of times but never found it. Two nights later I heard yowling and moaning that I have never heard before. I googled what happens when a cat is in labor, and I was convinced that the cat was going to have kittens in my garage. And there was nothing I could do about it because there was no way I could find it.

The next morning I decided I had to tackle this problem. And so I looked. And looked. And looked. No cat. I was convinced I was going to find the dead body of the cat because it had starved to death, but didn't even find that.

And then. I went to the backyard and peeked into the sandbox. And up came those glowing green eyes oh so gently and a little purr.

When I had asked Kk if she wanted to help me find the cat she told me no because it is scary. After I told her I had found it she kept telling me the titty tat was hungry and that I needed to feed it. Ha ha, fat chance. I don't want a cat, but the question is....do you?