I have been asked this question sooooo many times! Complete strangers in the grocery store, doctor's office, mailbox, walking on the street, at the library, at restaurants when we are sitting eating, etc. No place seems to be off limits for people to ask me this question.
What's wrong with her?
Honestly...
Did her brother hit her? No? Did she hurt it? No? What happened to her?
Particularly loved this 'conversation' at the mailbox. A man asked me this in front of both my kids! He seriously asked me if my son had hurt my daughter and if that was the reason for the eye patch! One would seriously think that maybe this was said in a joke, but I can assure you it was not a joke. I've come to answer questions with vagueness now and this man just continued with the questions until he got specific enough information. I finally told him she was born with a cataract and he told me he didn't know babies could get that. I said we were super special, and I should start buying lottery tickets! I find it hard to get out of these conversations with strangers. There isn't enough time to tell them what's really going on with the patching, and not enough time to make them understand what it all means. They just want to hear me say she was born with a cataract and they move on with their lives.
Why does she have to wear a patch?
I think I'm going to start answering - just for fun! Thought I'd experiment a little with my kids' eyesight just to see what happens!
How long does she have to wear a patch?
I actually don't know. What I do know is that it's a long time and no one will tell me exactly how long it's going to be, because they know it's longer than a parent wants to think about having to patch their child. So I say a long time, maybe years. People don't really understand this, and I find when I'm packing my groceries I don't really have time to explain the theory behind patching...
Can she see?
Not sure! I assume she can see something! But again, not sure why someone would ask me whether or not my child was visually impaired!
That's most of the questions that I can remember, which when written in a list like this doesn't seem too long. But... the number of times each of these questions gets asked, especially the first one, is shocking. I honestly would never ask or point out something that is 'wrong' about a person's child, especially as a stranger to them. And I would NEVER say something that speaks so negatively (meaning that it points out a visual difference) about a child in front of them and siblings. M understands a lot of what we say to her, and thinking about the number of times she has heard questions and talk about her eye to strangers, I know she does or will soon, understand that they are asking about her eye because it is different than those people and kids around her. E definitely understands that this is something different about her, and he has started answering people's questions when they ask. When people ask these questions, in front of my two kids when we are out and about, it really turns the focus to something that is a part of life but not the only part.
We live in a relatively small town so I figure that if people keep asking me or my husband what happened to our daughter at the current rate, mixed with a little talking amongst moms/people, that eventually all of Arnprior will know - then maybe the questions will stop?!
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