Fayette-Mom: Mother of the Year? Or maybe not

By Jennifer Joyner

Posted: November 8, 2010

Ladies, if you were hoping for Mother of the Year award, you need to go ahead and lower your expectations.

So sorry to disappoint you, but I have that title all wrapped up.

You see, I’m the mother who let her child get all the way into first grade without realizing she needed glasses.

And I mean, really needed glasses.

When Emma started struggling to get through homework at the beginning of the school year, I thought she was just tired from a long day.

After volunteering in her class, I noticed she didn’t raise her hand to answer any of the teacher’s questions. When I asked her about it later, she told me she was just shy.

And even when she flat out told me her eyes were bothering her while practicing reading, I reasoned that she was probably just bored (in my defense, she always said “My eyes hurt…I need a snack!” or “This is hurting my eyes…can I go outside now?”).

I didn’t totally dismiss her complaints; I knew her school was holding eye screenings shortly, and I figured if there was a problem, I would know about it then.

Um, yeah…..we had a big problem.

The nurse conducting the screening said Emma needed to have a full eye exam…and soon.

I took her in, and she is very far-sighted.

Yep, Mother of the Year.

But her pediatrician said her vision was fine at her wellness appointment earlier this year, I protested to my mom friends.

Never go by what the pediatrician says about eyes, counseled those with more parenting experience than I.

Live and learn I guess.

So now Emma is sporting super cute pink glasses and homework is now a breeze.

And her brother will most definitely get his eyes checked before he starts kindergarten next year.

Jennifer is a mom of two and WRAL-TV assignment editor in Fayetteville. Her food obsession memoir, “Designated Fat Girl,” came out in September. Read more about Jennifer and her book on her website. Find her here on Go Ask Mom on Tuesdays.

4 Comments

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Same thing happened to me with my daughter, & no doctor had mentioned eye problems before. The 1st grade teacher said she was legally blind in one eye. I felt bad thinking of all those vacations like trips to the zoo or mountains or beach, etc., knowing she probably never saw a thing clearly.

carolynsaunders
November 9, 2010 12:50 p.m.

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when my son (now 10) was in daycare, he was biting excessively at age 2. he had a lot of ear infections. we would "punish" him by not letting him watch "barney", etc. a few mos later, little did we know that his hearing in 1 ear was affected by all the fluid, hence his language development was slow. once another set of tubes were put in, his language blossomed and biting stopped. we felt guilty. we've all been there in 1 form or another. your issue is solved- a +++!!

missparrothead
November 9, 2010 11:23 a.m.

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Oh, sweetie, don't even stress it. I was in your shoes exactly! My son's eyes are past the point of being 20/600 as of last check, but we were clueless that he had a problem until he casually mentioned something about not seeing the white board at school.

For the longest time, he refused to consider contacts, and so I would hold my breath and cringe every time his glasses would get knocked off his face on the soccer pitch (sports glasses didn't work for him). Finally, he decided he wanted them, and it makes life so much easier! =)

Killian
November 9, 2010 9:50 a.m.

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She'll be able to see the food on her plate now too! That is what my nephew said after he got eye glasses as a very young boy.