At The Eye Doctor

Yep, my eye is still the size of Texas. But it doesn't hurt quite as much, so that is something.

A young doctor saw me first before the experienced doctor came in to take another look. The entire trip, from calling for appointment to the end, was three hours. Two of those were in the office. This place treats kids, so I'm not sure why they were so bad with Ander, except that maybe they rarely treat toddlers? I usually get a sitter, but I didn't know about the appointment until the last minute, and they needed me there right away to fit me in. There was no time to bring Ander anywhere but with me.

They did everything wrong. (Not regarding the eye care, which seemed fine. But regarding the toddler.)

First, we walked into the exam room. (Well, "first" is an exaggeration. First, we sat in the waiting area for an hour, even though I was right across the street at Woman's Hospital and they could have had me arrive at 9:45 a.m. Oh, and we changed a dirty diaper in yet another bathroom with no changing table and no counter space. Again, kids are some of their patients, so I thought this very unsanitary.) The young doctor told me to sit in the exam chair and turned to Ander and said, as if he was ten, please sit there, pointing to a chair in the corner where Ander couldn't even see me because he was blocked by the doctor. I politely (or not so politely, depending on your perspective) ignored the doctor, moved Ander's chair to a better spot, gave him his magna doodle, and reminded him that the doctor had to look at mommy's eyes and he needed to sit and play under the doctor was done.

At one point, Ander stood up. He did not move away from the area or anything; I suspect he was repositioning his magna doodle. The young doctor said sharply (to me - with a blinder over one eye and my head pushed back by the machines, so that I could do nothing), "he needs to not touch the equipment. It's expensive." Then, he told Ander, "stop touching the equipment." (Ander was nowhere near the equipment.) Finally, he added, "I told some little boy last week not to touch and he did anyway. Kids just don't listen."

Yah, I was fuming by now. I have no problem with Ander not touching the equipment. I had been clear at the beginning with Ander that he had to stay in the chair. I didn't exactly give the impressive that Ander could run around and do anything he wanted. So why punish us for the last little boy's antics?

So I got out of the chair (after all, if the machinery was so important to protect, the doctor could wait a second to examine me). I put Ander back on the chair and warned him to stay on the chair for a little bit longer or there would be a timeout. Ander was stressed by now, because evil doctor had spoke so harshly to him about something Ander wasn't doing and could not change, and he refused and got off the chair.

So I calmly said, "timeout." I placed him in the corner. "You are in timeout for two mintues because you did not obey mommy and got off the chair."

I go back to my exam. And the assistant/nurse walks up to Ander, and tries to GIVE HIM HIS MAGNA DOODLE. "He's in timeout. He can have it afterwards."

The doctor (idiot) says, "wow, you didn't slap him. You were really calm. Most of our patients practically beat their kids. You think your way will work?"

Seriously.

It went on and on. Instead of letting us wait for another half an hour in the big room with the tv, I guess they had to protect the other patients, so Ander and I got a tiny spot in the hallway. When Ander got in the way of passing staff, they looked annoyed. Well, screw 'em. I was annoyed to be clearly stuck in a different waiting area than everyone else seeing the same doctor. Ander pooped, again.

All this time, I'm the only person in the room who looks beat up. Sigh.

I wanted to beat somebody up myself.

We got through the next eye doctor's visit by bribing with gum. And we hauled butt out of there.

I understand not everyone is comfortable with children. I understand not everyone likes children. But people have to see doctors and children are part of people's lives. I am very considerate. Ander is not allowed to annoy anyone, pushing his behavior abilities to their very limits. Whenever possible, I get a sitter. (The lack of drop-in daycares, however, do make that very, very difficult, even though I am willing to pay for care.) The bottom line is that we were amazingly well-behaved (apparently, both of us, as I don't beat my child), yet we were treated like terrors.

Etcetera.