Here’s looking at you, kid.
Courtesy of Sarah Shrader
Ever since school started, my sweet Reagan has been telling me that she is having trouble seeing the board. However, I knew that one of her best friends had glasses that she has recently started wearing more, and I figured Reagan just wanted glasses to be like her. Plus, she has never had any problems in the past and was doing great in school, so I didn’t think much of it.
For weeks, Reagan kept asking me if I had made her an eye appointment. Mind you, I had been traveling some of those weeks so I told her I would when life got back to normal. Finally, after life settled down and after being nagged by her again to make the appointment, I sought out an eye doctor and called. Surprisingly, they had a cancellation the next morning, so I could get her right in.
During the eye appointment, this little girl did amazing at following directions – moving from one room to another, staring at the barn in the background, looking at colors etc. And while she did great at being told what to look at and answer, it became blatantly obvious that she was not so great at reading the correct letters from far away. In fact, at one point they asked me if she even knew her letters very well. She’s in second grade – she has her letters down.
As I sat there and watched her mistake “Q” for “C” and “N” for “W”, the mom guilt started to creep in. Ugh. This poor babe truly cannot see very well from far away. Here she had been telling me for weeks! And I just put it off thinking she just wanted to wear glasses as an accessory.
In all fairness, this child has been getting fake glasses for the last few years just to wear them because she thought they were cool. So, it is not like I was too far off in thinking that. Plus, she literally would lose each pair within a few days – she definitely did not take care of them.
But still, I am her MOM. I should have recognized that she was having trouble seeing. How could I have missed it? I mean, look guys, this girl doesn’t only sort of need glasses. It’s not like she just needs them from time to time or to read or anything. Oh no, I am saying that they only did her prescription half as strong as what they thought so that her eyes could hopefully adjust and they could reevaluate then (plus, she wasn’t seeing much better with the full prescription than with half).
Like, she really, really needed glasses, and I had no idea.
After the “I told you so’s” from Reagan, she was stoked to pick out her frames. She walked right up and knew which pair she wanted. I made her try a few others just in case, but her first choice was a clear winner. And look, she is my child so I am a little biased, but I thought she looked absolutely adorable in them.
For the next week, she asked me every day when her glasses would be in. When they finally did arrive, she couldn’t even wait an extra day for my work at home day for us to go get them – instead she made me call and ask GG and Auntie L to take her to pick them up after school the next day.
And here was the part I was worried about – how is this seven year old going to handle the responsibility of taking care of such an expensive item? I mean, I have seen the way her room looks, and let’s just say it’s…uh…rough. But, although it has only been a few weeks, I am happy to report that she has been doing amazing with them. She is adamant about keeping them clean, putting them in her case at night and keeping them on.
In fact, during parent teacher conferences, her teacher made the comment that the hardest part at that age is getting the kiddos to actually wear the glasses – and that Reagan always keeps them on. Side note, her teacher felt just as guilty as I did that she didn’t realize she needed them either since Reagan had never asked to move up closer to the board. At least that made me feel a little better. Ha!
Regardless, my baby can finally see! And, I actually am feeling pretty confident in the way she has taken such good care of them and hope that continues. So, if you see her out and about rocking her new specs, feel free to remind her how cool she looks.
Oh, and also, if your kid says they can’t see, from personal experience, I highly recommend getting their eyes checked.
Sarah (Pitson) Shrader was born and raised in Lima. She is a Lima Central Catholic and Tiffin University graduate. Sarah is a full-time working mama who enjoys writing about her somewhat crazy, always adventurous life as a mother. She lives in Bath Township with her daughters and writing inspirations, Maylie and Reagan.
