Bad Mommy

There are times I think I'm doing ok with the whole "Mom" thing. Then there are days when I realize I have no idea what I'm doing.

For months my 8 year old daughter complained about trouble seeing the writing on the whiteboard at school. As a teacher, I know the glare from a projector on a shiny whiteboard can pose problems for viewing from certain angles. I wrote off her complaints.

Her whining grew louder and more frequent, and I realized her friend had recently gotten glasses. "Aha!" I said to myself, "She just wants to get glasses like her pal J."

Finally, my husband and I agreed to take her to the eye doctor for an exam. We figured with his good vision coverage through work, it was worth the $25 to shut her up. After all, her screenings at school and at the pediatrician had never indicated any cause for concern.

Well, the verdict is in...

My daughter is almost legally blind!

She is painfully myopic in both eyes, and the eye doctor said he was surprised she didn't make us get her in much sooner! When we picked up her glasses, the things she started noticing blew me away. She never knew the overhead signs at the grocery store told you what items are found on each aisle. She is fascinated by the different colors and textures of the individual strands of carpet in her classroom, which always looked solid grey to her before. She loves to study the details of a leaf on a plant, which previously looked like flat green shapes.

My poor little girl is only now discovering whole, huge chunks of life today, because I finally took her to an eye doctor. I feel like the world's worst mommy, especially when I think about the fact that the main reason for taking her in was just to shut her up!

Oh, the guilt!