Organization Tip

I love organization. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying that I feel well-organized. Just that I love the feeling of comfort that comes from everything being in the right place at the right time. At work, I am supremely organized. At home, I manage chaos.

One of the greatest challenges that my spouse and I have had is keeping track of important things. Appointments are usually booked by us during business hours at the offce so getting things on to the calendar at home can be hard. Dates and times get messed up. And important things get missed.

My husband though, is a wonder of technology. If it is advanced (and usually if it costs money :-0) my husband will try it. His latest contraption is google calendar. I have to admit. I absolutely love it. We have not been able to sync our Outlook calendars because they are filled with work related meetings and appointments. This one, though, we can both fill up with important events. That way we can blame the calendar when we miss them.

Amblyopia

Check Ups

I have pretty severe frustration with the Canadian medical system. There are simply not enough doctors for the patients and even families that are relatively healthy have trouble getting in to see their physician. My kids have been going to clinics all year long for their ear infections, colds, flus, etc.

Imagine my surprise when we get a chance to see their pediatrician for their annual check up. I was expecting that we would have trouble with Liam's back. We have known about this for a year or so but not been able to get to see a specialist. Finally, we have gotten a referral to the children's hospital for a proper diagnosis. I was not expecting that my eldest son has almost no vision in his right eye.

Apparently, approximately three percent of kids are afflicted with this. Liam's is extreme at this point and, according to the pediatric opthomologist, there is no way that this is new. This has been ongoing for a few years but has not been caught. I am frustrated with myself and with the medical system. Had this been caught prior to the age of three there is a high likelihood that he would have had perfect vision restored by six. Catching this at eight, there is zero chance that he will have perfect vision however, with "patching" the good eye and using a strong lens on the weak eye, we should be able to restore some vision. SOME VISION.

Absolutely incredible that we had no idea that his vision was that poor. I am including some information below on amblyopia.

As for his back, we are going to get x-rays on the back and hip. There is a good chance that there was hip dysplasia as a baby that was not diagnosed and the curvature in his back is simply the muscles accommodating this. I don't believe this to be serious. Liam plays every sport out there and has excellent dexterity. I am considering chiropractic treatment. Personally, the whole thing freaks me out but I have talked to a number of parents now who regularly see chiropractors with their kids and have excellent results.

I would love to hear your thoughts on chiropractic practices...



Amblyopia
Sometimes even children with perfect eyes can't see well. How can this be?
What is it? Practice makes perfect. Young eyes need practice in order for mature vision to develop in the brain. For this to happen, a clear image of the world needs to land on the retina and be transmitted to the visual cortex of the brain.

Amblyopia is the loss of vision caused when a clear image of the world is not available on the retina during key periods of development. The visual cortex of the brain develops dramatically in babies and young children. It continues to develop throughout the first decade of life.

Anything that interferes with a normal image on the retina during this time can lead to amblyopia – a loss of vision that continues even if no problem remains in the eye.

Who gets it?
Amblyopia might occur in strabismus, when one eye deviates to the side and isn’t used as much. It might occur if there is unequal vision in the two eyes from astigmatism, or if one eye is more nearsighted or farsighted than the other. It might occur if there is a cataract blocking vision in one eye, or if there has been an injury.

Whatever the cause, if the “lazy” eye relaxes, the vision in that eye gets worse, and a destructive cycle begins. The initial difference between the eyes does not have to be dramatic.

Amblyopia only begins during the first ten years of life. It is more likely, and often more serious, the younger the child is when the retina is not receiving a clear image.

What are the symptoms?
Most amblyopia is discovered during routine eye screening – without any symptoms having been noticed. The symptom of amblyopia is decreased visual acuity, but this is not usually found unless the child has her vision checked.

An eye that deviates, cloudiness in one eye, or any signs or symptoms of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism might suggest that amblyopia is developing as a result.

How long does it last?
If normal vision is not restored to the eye by about age 6, some degree of vision loss will probably be permanent. Usually a lazy eye should be diagnosed by age 3 in order to restore normal vision to that eye by age 6.

How is it diagnosed?
A March 2002 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all babies have vision screening (including screening for strabismus and amblyopia) at the earliest possible age, and at regular intervals throughout childhood. Rather than relying on informal or subjective assessments of vision, the policy discusses photoscreening, a new test that can make checking vision easier and more accurate for even very young babies. A specially equipped camera takes their picture and a computer or a person analyzes the eye data obtained. Ask your pediatrician about having your baby screened.

If there are abnormal results on vision screening, or any reason to suspect amblyopia, the child should have a complete eye exam as soon as possible.

How is it treated?
The key to treating amblyopia is starting early. The first order of business is to identify and plan to treat the underlying cause of the amblyopia if it is still present.

It is also important to temporarily block vision in the better eye so that the child will use and exercise the “lazy” eye. This process may go on for weeks or months or even years.

Eye patches have long been a standard treatment for amblyopia. But children and parents alike sometimes have a tough time following through. Even if the child is initially enthusiastic about looking like a pirate, the patch ordeal can soon get old. It did in my house.

I was pleased to see a study published in the March 2002 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology that tested children with amblyopia at 47 different clinical sites. Half received patching (6 hours a day for 6 months); the other half were treated with blurring eye drops in the good eye (one drop of atropine a day for 6 months).

Treatment was successful (at least 3 lines of vision improvement, or vision brought to at least 20/30) in 79 percent of the patched kids and 74 percent of those receiving drops. Atropine drops appear to be a great treatment choice for some families.

Busy?

So, I watch other children. Not like I am stalking them in a weird way. I am just interested in their behaviours and the responses of their parents or caregivers. I like to see how personalities are formed over time.

Yesterday, after a bit of miscommunication between my children's parents :-), I scrambled at the last minute to get my eldest to floor hockey. Picture this...

At 5:40, I realized that Todd was not coming home from work. Ever. And I had not been able to coax the kids in from the park in order to feed them a healthy supper before the eldest played floor hockey so, I improvised. We are going to another park ... a funner park ... I told the two youngest. And I loaded the wagon full (seriously) of sand toys and sand *this part is important for later* into the front seat of the van. I stole the "Lunchables" (only the healthy choice ones!) from the fridge and some apples, a bottle of water and fishy crackers AND I RAN FOR IT!!!

On the way to the floor hockey, I threw back apples and the Lunchable for Liam. I wanted to save the "supper" for the younger kids as entertainment at the game. The first corner that I take I hear "ssssss" sort of like air coming out of the tires... Then I realize, it is the sand stored in the bottom of the wagon .... draining into the socket for my cell phone charger in the dash. At this point, I was wishing I had slid some of that vodka into the water.

We get to the game and get Liam settled with his stick and his jersey and his water bottle ... and I settle down to the role of a short order cook in a REALLY fast diner. Open the cream cheese for one, open the pizza sauce for another, start spreading the cream cheese - EMERGENCY WASHROOM BREAK - ok, ok, squirt out the sauce for the first, pick up the cheese from the floor, bite the tips off the turkey nibblers (cause no-one would actually eat the tip of a turkey sausage) ... you get the picture. Hold the water bottle so none gets spilled. Remove socks on self to clean up the water that gets spilled while I was spreading cream cheese... Once the feeding frenzy is complete (over in 6.2 minutes), I spend the next 50 minutes corralling kids on the gym equipment they have stored on the gym stage. And up and down the stairs. Then cleaning up a bloody nose (Aiden of course), more pee breaks, trips to the water fountain, etc.

At this point I notice, there is another kid on the stage. A little younger than Keegan - maybe just turned two. And she is standing between her father's legs, eating a small container of fishy crackers. And not saying a word. And not running anywhere. I know there is an upside to having active, busy children. But, at this point I fail to see it. And I forgot my wet socks on the stage.

An Exhausted Parent

A Laid Off Perspective

I tend to read blogs from parents, not just focussed on parenting but talking in general about a parent's perspective. One of the blogs that I read, "Laid Off Dad" had an interesting post on the effects of having been laid off during the high tech shuffle. The effects of a layoff go so much deeper than financial.

My husband and I were lucky ones. We know friends who were off work for more than a year and accepted jobs that were significantly less pay than before. I was laid off in February 2002, after returning from maternity leave. They had replaced me while I was off and I knew that the company was not considered "family friendly" so, when I had no job to go back to and was given pieces of other people's jobs, I knew the writing was on the wall. It did not make the conversation any easier to handle.

It took me a few months to figure out that I could be home with the kids without the guilt of not having a job and rather than looking for full time work, I agreed to watch a friend's kids and work part time (one day at the office and 7.5 hours scattered throughout the week). It actually worked out best for everyone. I was making reasonably good money and getting out of the house one day a week. And I was home to abuse the kids during the day. Even so, when a full time position came up I jumped at it even though I was seven weeks post-partum with my third. I jumped because I just never knew when I would get the next chance.

For Todd, I was already off work. He was laid off in September 2002 and, unlike me, he did not see it coming. The company was doing well however, they had set up Todd's office as a satellite office (always a risky place to be) and they had just delivered on a cutting edge technology. Delivered translates into limited future value. They shut the whole office down. Todd was only off for 6 weeks when he used his contacts and landed his first contracting job. This lasted for 3 months, then 3 months more and during the final weeks of the contract, Todd landed a job with a company making software to help learning and economically disadvantaged kids learn math and English.

In both our cases, we landed on our feet. While there was economic "strain" there was never the possibility of losing the house, or being forced to sell the cars, etc. We were never up against a wall. However, similar to Laid Off Dad, I have never brought in personal items to my desk. I keep one drawer of documents that I would need to bring with me when I leave. And I prefer contracting (there is a clear end date that both parties agree to in advance) over supposed full time employment. At least in contacting you get well paid up front and have the ability to save understanding that there will be times without work.