Her Middle Name is Grace
These are my daughters. I’m fortunate to be a proud mom on a daily basis. I never take that for granted after going through infertility and a miracle baby.
But the one in the middle with the orange eye patch? That’s my Izzy. She couldn’t be happier cuddling with her sisters. The expression on her face speaks for itself.
We had the twins’ eyes tested early since bad vision runs in the family. When they were about 4 1/2 years old, the optometrist detected a slight difference with Izzy but wanted to wait a bit to be sure. At her eye exam last September, he decided it was time for her to get glasses. She was disappointed and self conscious, but handled it well. Especially when she realized her glasses “magically” morphed into sunglasses anytime she went outside!
We knew there was a fair chance she’d have amblyopia (I have it, as does my younger brother), which if caught early on, can be corrected by patching the good eye, therefore forcing the weaker eye to work hard and gain strength. Her doctor said we’d wait a little longer to determine if patching was necessary. Unfortunately, it was.
We acted nonchalant about it, but I was a train wreck inside. The doctor’s office only had pirate-style patches, which were plain, too big, and prevented her from doing anything with her hair since the strap went around her head. But that was all we had initially, so we all wore them for the first few days to support her.
So I hopped on the internetz and some sweet friends sent me to Patch Pals. I let Izzy pick out a few so that she can wear a different one every weekday if she wants.
She was nervous about wearing her patch to school, so I talked to the kindergarten teachers ahead of time. I went to the party supply store and got plastic pirate patches for all the kindergarteners and talked to them briefly, explaining why Izzy wears a patch. A few asked questions, and I answered as simply as I could.
Not once has my sweet girl complained or thrown a fit about wearing her patch. Every time she has a checkup she hopes she’ll be able to stop wearing it, but in the interim? She handles it with a grace I’d never have anticipated. Grace also happens to be her middle name. Her courage is inspiring and humbling. She handles the questions well. More importantly, she’s not embarrassed and the not-so-nice comments are quickly forgotten.
I’m proud and lucky to be the mother of such an awesome six-year-old.
**Thank you so much, Kir, for letting me share my Proud Mommy Moment here!**
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Her Blog: ErinMargolin.com
You should be proud of Izzy — she’s way awesome!
We had to take Milo to the eye doctor last summer because he failed the eye test at the pediatrician. I was convinced he didn’t understand the instructions, but since I’ve been near-sighted all of my life, we took him to the opthamologist. The week in between those appointments was excruciating for Milo, but the night before the appointment he whispered, “If I have to wear glasses, it will be OK. I’ll be fine, mom.” And then we had the appointment where he was diagnosed with “didn’t understand the instructions of the first eye exam.”
I shoulda been a doctor…
Courtenay,
so funny! yeah, we had trouble at the first few appts when girls were little…but then it became easier and they got it…
thanks so much for coming by to read!
xoxo
Kids are just so awesome. They can teach us so much about life if we just stop and watch them.
I know what you mean, Jennifer! I need to listen better & more…can’t wait to meet you SOON!
She wears that patch like a fashion icon! Beautiful. Good luck with both spoken word pitches!!
Deborah,
Thank you! she does wear them well and I’m so proud of her for that.
I lost out on my VOTY pitch, so I’m hanging on for the moth. but i feel like i should just let go. only i don’t know how…
thanks for coming by!
That’s beautiful, Erin. You have such lovely girls, and so much to be proud of.
Thanks, Alison. They are lovely….most of the time!
LOL
i love Erin…
And I love that her girl has the same fighter spirit in her.
I love you too, Kimberly. And I am swooning over my girl. I hope she continues to hold onto that spirit and never lets go of it.
I love Erin. And I love Kir. And I think it’s REALLY awesome that you knew each other for a very long time before I met either of you through writing. Thank you for your glowing endorsement of her, Kir. and thank you Erin for sharing more of your story with us and letting us know even more about Izzy and her awesomeness.
thanks, frelle. yeah, kir and i were on some infertility/TTC message boards together long before blogland. or before i was blogging, anyway.i don’t remember when kir started. but to this day i don’t know what i would have done without those message boards. so many other women struggling together, sharing and caring and supporting…
and thank you for caring and supporting me too, frelle.
HUGS
it’s always a bittersweet thing, to know someone from a really rough time of your life and keep them, I ADORE ERIN. But she knows that…she’s amazing.
Kir, YOU are the amazing one, look at everything you’ve accomplished both in mommy land and in blog land! It’s an honor and a privilege to be here, so thank you again! xoxoxxo
you are silly, you are amazing, and don’t you ever ever forget it girlie. (Getting your BlogHer hug ready)
xo
Izzy is amazing..just like her mama. Love this. xoxo
Tracy,
Thank you, sweetheart. And I need to go read your post from yesterday again. I need a laugh.
xoxoxoxo
I just adore the way you handled it at school and that it just isn’t a big deal, you know? This is most definitely a Proud Mommy Moment for you and her, Erin.
xoxo
p.s. Hi Kir, great guest-poster choice!
xoxo
Thanks, Elaine! She is doing great. We took family photos today and the photographer asked her to take her glasses off for some of them when we were outside b/c they automatically turn into sunglasses…and she was upset about having to take them off!!! so cute. I’m glad she’s not resistant to them. She’s a doll. Thanks for coming by and I am counting the days til I get to see you again!
I’m so happy she’s taking it so well. Hopefully, you won’t have to patch too long. I know what I’ve been going through for the past 6 years. We have an end in sight but in the mean time we patch 2-3 days a week because every little bit helps.
Susi,
We just had a checkup and we’re going to try patching 1/2 days now…and re-check her in another month. I’m trying not to get my hopes up. But time will tell. Thank you so much for coming by!
I don’t tear up easily or often when reading blog posts – even though I am frequently moved and love the words of so many writers.
This post has me watering, Erin.
As a mama, I KNOW how hard this must have been (and the fears you probably still have).
But look how strong she is. Because of you.
You.
Margolin women are a force to be reckoned with.
Every single one of them.
Julie,
Your comment just made ME water!
MWAH!
I love you so hard, Julie!!
won’t you please come to BlogHer?????
xoxo
I’m impressed!!! Really informative blog post on www.thekircorner.com my friend. I just wanted to comment & say keep up the quality work.
Seo Tools,
Thanks so much for stopping by!