There is a Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Today was another eye appointment for Rugrat. It went well; beyond our expectations for certain.

Generally, it takes me, Hubby, a nurse, and the doctor to get her pressure reading. Today, it only took me, Hubby, and the doctor. What's more, she didn't scream and cry so much that the nurse was coming to look in on us all.

That's not to say she didn't scream and cry though. She still did -- but the volume was much lower and by the end of the pressure reading she had mostly stopped.

That's the way it was with the kicking too. She started out pretty wild (like I hope the doctor has finished all his fathering of children kind of wild) and settled down to the point that she actually just stopped kicking.

I had decided to try being REALLY firm with her all through it this time. There is one phrase I use that is kind of like when other parents count to 3 and they are on 3.

The difference is that I actually do something if she doesn't respond unlike most of the parents I've seen who count. (Yes, I'm being facetious. Seriously. Why bother if you have no intention of actually disciplining. That drives me crazy. Especially when they can plainly see that the kid has it figured out and is standing there with a smirk that says, "WHAT will You do? Ha!")

So anyway, I let her know what I expected. And then throughout the test, I reminded her a few times. Plus, we had already talked about how Mama and Baba and Chick and Dude all had to get the same test and we didn't cry or scream.

I've also been making a point to call the doctor by name rather than "the eye doctor." I wanted to see if making him a person we're going to see rather than evil incarnate's impersonal title would help.

Plus, we all decided to do the test regardless of her behavior. I think knowing it's going to happen whether you cooperate or not probably tends to make an impact on anything she views as scary. This is no exception and the consistency seems to be paying off.

The doctor actually expected two fights today. He dilated her eyes. Because her eye is all pupil, it doesn't actually dilate but the muscles will relax with that solution which makes it easier to see everything.

She had actually calmed herself enough after the pressure reading that when he brought the solution over tensed and ready, she let him put them in. I told her he needed to put some water in her eyes and she sat still with her eyes open wide for him.

As he turned to put it away, she even jumped down from my lap to give him a hug -- I guess letting him know all was forgiven.

And he had no problems with any other part of the exam. He was even able to give her a new prescription. (He used a different tool to do that. We haven't even considered trying to get her to look through those binocular type things.)

So Hubby and I are feeling good. We've been waiting for even the slightest hint that this part won't always be so hard. This was it! And even if things are exactly the same as usual next time, this appointment gives a clue that they won't always be. Eventually she will overcome her fear.

And until then, I guess we'll just keep chipping away at it.