We're Now A Five Glasses Family: Why I No Longer Blame the Doc for our $500 Test

A in her new glasses finger paints

Today was a big day for A. She's wearing her first pair of glasses. They are Purple and Adorable with a Purple Pez Case and a snazzy attitude to match.

A few weeks ago, we went in for A's five year old checkup with our pediatrician. Since she's not in kindergarten, this was not a "big" visit, just a yearly exam. Everything checked out great. She's tall and skinny, smart as whistle and she has great reflexes.

I noticed however that he took a little longer than normal looking at her eyes. The lights were out in the room and he looked and looked at the pupils and had her move her eyes right and left.

He told me he thought that she was not seeing the same out of both eyes, that the light was not reflecting the same in both eyes, and that he'd like to do an exam in the hallway and then thought we should go see our Pediatric Optomologist

Yes, we have a pediatric Optomologist and have in fact for 9 years. M was only two weeks old when our pediatrician sent her to a specialist for a droopy eye lid. It was a God thing that we went then because, by the time M was two, she was not seeing so well. Her astigmatism was really bad and she needed glasses. I might have cried a little that day. However, when she came home from picking up the glasses a few days later and looked at a basket of books for over two hours devouring each page, I cried tears of joy. Poor little girl was living in a fuzzy world. She has never complained and wore those adorable blue glasses without a fuss.

So back to last week. Off we went to the Pediatric Eye Specialist. Guess A has a lazy eye. The toughest of all "lazy eyes" to catch. It is the one where her astigmatism in one eye is significantly different than the other. As a result, A's good right eye is working hard to cover her bad left eye. If left as is, the brain would send a signal to the left eye to shut off. Yes, that's right, she'd lose sight in that eye completely.

Our eye doctor said it was a "great catch by our Pediatrician." His thorough exam saved A's eyes.

Guess I can cut him a little slack for ordering the H1N1 test for our son C back in July. A test that originally came back negative and then two days later was positive for Influenza A and then finally for H1N1. C was never really that sick. None of us caught the bug from him. By the time the test was positive, he was back to full strength. Yet, because of it, we were under house arrest on the lookout for symptoms.

How much for the test you ask. Five Hundred dollars. It was a test for nothing but statistical averages. Poor C was hoping that his name would be in the paper at least. Nada.

I'm no longer holding that grudge against our Pediatrician, however. You see that same thoroughness that lead him to order that flu test, made him look twice at A's eyes. That's worth well more than 500 dollars. It's priceless.

I told my husband last week that I was sad for A. Here she has to have ear surgery in October to repair a huge hole inside her ear, left from tubes years ago. This whole that should cause her to have no hearing in the right ear, but by the grace of God she only has 10% loss that should be corrected. Now, she has a left eye that could have been blind. But for the grace of God and great set of doctors, she will probably be stronger than ever. Sad that she has to go through so much, yet grateful that God has place in our lives the right set of doctors to allow all this to be corrected.

What a big God we serve who cares about our eyes and ears. He really does love every inch of us doesn't He!!

Restoring Joy

Today was a day of affirmation for our family. A day that I wept for joy over the fact that God was affirming a decision we had made about A's education and that he was giving us even more than we had asked for.

Deciding to Redshirt A this year from Kindergarten had been a decision we wrestled with for months last year. There were days I was convinced we had to send her. Days I knew that I could not send this young child off to all day every day school at barely 5 years old.

I think part of the reason I struggled so much with the decision was that we had made one poor educational decision already for Kindergarten years ago with our oldest. We'd sent him off to all day Kindergarten at a school that was not the right place for him. It was very tough year.

Thinking that I would make a poor decision again almost stalled me from choosing. But in my heart, I kept hearing nudges to hold her out one more year. Who cares that she's tall, it doesn't matter how smart and sharp she is today, this is a long term decision.

Decision made after much prayer, consultation and discussion. Redshirt and send A to Preschool one more year. Today our decision was confirmed with red flashing lights and fireworks.

Today was meet your Teacher Day at Preschool. A has Miss Judy for Preschool. The same teacher that our oldest had eight years ago. Miss Judy, the teacher that saw so much potential in C and nourished that potential, praised his little personality and made C love school. A is going to be so blessed this year.

Our experience last year at Preschool was not stellar. We had rushed into a new school for the ease and comfort of this being our third child. We didn't do our "Due Diligence" or see if the school met our needs or that of our child. It didn't. So many of the memories we've made as a family with our Preschooler were absent last year. No "Show and Tell," No "Letter of the Week," No "Thanksgiving Feast with Pilgrim Hats," No Christmas or Valentine's Day Party, No Fall Festival or Pumpkin Patch experience, No Mother's Day Tea.

I felt like our child was just passing time. She didn't love her teachers. She never talked about the classroom or the other kids. No playdates. We just didn't have the experience I was hoping for. The only thing A really got of Preschool last year was the routine of the school experience.

I'm convinced that had we sent A to kindergarten this year it would have been a struggle for her to get excited about it. She wasn't loving school. She was just going.

Thank You God for Today. She was bubbly and excited. She was thrilled with the cool sink to wash her hands, the art center, the kitchen to play house, the circle time rug filled with color. The teachers who were so excited to see her. She glowed. She was happy.

The first thing today we walked in the room and Miss Judy gave me and A a huge hug. She said when she saw A's name on the list she wondered if she was C's little sister. She remembered all the little things about C. His love of airplanes, his funny personality, his cute smile. She said A looked just like him. How thrilled she was to have her in the class. My little shy A went right over to the art center and started to color a Veggie Tale picture. She said, "I'm going like it. Do I start today?"

Thank you Lord for restoring joy to our little preschooler's heart. To getting her excited for school for Show and Tell, for Art Centers and Field Trips to Pumpkin Patches. To Teachers Who Love You Lord and Love Our Little Girl without even knowing her yet!

There is a Bible verse that talks about restoring days/eaten away. Renewing the time spent with joy. That's what God did today. He's restoring last year with a fresh start. He's giving A a redshirt year that will build her up for the future. We are going to create great Preschool Memories this year. She's going to get on the right foot for Kindergarten next year. She might have been ready today intellectually, but now she's for sure going to be right next years socially, spiritually and intellectually.

A can't wait for next Wednesday when school actually starts. We can't wait either.

Joel 2:25 and 26 (paraphrase)

I will repay you for the year the locust have eaten ...you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.

Destined for Greatness Only Rain Delayed

Poor A! Her first soccer game was cancelled tonight due wet field conditions. It's been rainy this week, and this afternoon, when a downpour started around 2 p.m., I started to worry that her little heart was going to be crushed.

She's been wanting to play soccer her "whole life." Last spring, we were all ready to sign her up and realized she missed the cut off by 6 days. Born 6 days too late to qualify for the team. Come on people she's destined for greatness on the field.
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A's cousins are all soccer stars. She's heard all about their games, their cool uniforms and of has been waiting on the sidelines for "her turn." Her siblings gave up the quest for the game long along to pursue their loves of baseball and dance (not the same child). Little A might just have soccer in her veins though.

I played soccer in high school and college and coached a team or two in my day. I was not a star as that was my brothers role. I like soccer, but it's a little too slow for me and there is too much running involved.

A's been practicing in our backyard for the past few weeks. Once we got her uniform last week, she has to practice in all the gear; uniform, socks, shin quards, cleats. Don't you know they make her go faster and kick better.

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She's not thrilled with the color of the uniform. She was really hoping for purple, but she's decided she'll wear purple pre-wrap in her hair. You want to accessorize just right for games you know.

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Yesterday, we were practicing in the yard and she told me with the cutest look on her face that "I can't wait to get on the field and show them how great I am at soccer, won't that be cool Mom?"
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This afternoon, when I got the email that our game was cancelled, I dreaded telling her. I knew she was going to be crushed. All day she'd been asking how much longer till her "Game." After school pickup this afternoon, I crouched down to her level and told her I had bad news, no game toinght.

Her response; "It will just be another few days until my game, guess they have to wait to see how great I am at Soccer, huh Mom." Just a few more days A. Saturday morning, we can't wait for you to get here!!

WFMW:Reshirting for Kindergarten

We've decided to redshirt A this year. I heard this term over the weekend and it works for me. We are not sending A to kindergarten this fall even though she will be 5 years old in August and qualifies according to our state guidelines.

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She's probably ready for kindergarten. She loved Preschool this year. She knows her colors and letters so intellectually, she is more than ready. Socially, she's a little shy, but once she warms up to the situation, she is very comfortable in a both school setting or with friends.

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We aren't redshirting her because we don't think she's ready now. Instead, we are just saving her for the future. We're were thinking more about a young 12 year old in junior high or a 16 year old taking the SAT tests and deciding her future college/career choices. Kids grow up too fast these days and we don't see any reason to rush her along the road.

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Redshirting sounds so positive. Focused on holding the best back so they are well prepared for the tasks ahead. Much better than holding her back from kindergarten this year, we are just holding her out until the time is right.

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A's birthday is early August. By the time school starts, she will be 5 years and 2 weeks. That's really young in my opinion for all day every day school. Most afternoons, this child still takes an hour "rest" in her room to give her some time recover for the activity of the day. On preschool days this Spring, she would often fall asleep during these rest times.

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Sure, as the third child, she's well accustomed to the school, teachers and activities of school so she' s probably more ready than either C or M were when they went off to school. However, her parents are also more prepared and, we know that by redshirting her, we are giving her the greatest advantage in the years to come. She'll be 19 years old when she heads off for her freshman year of college instead of barely 18.
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A is going to our favorite preschool in the fall. Just three mornings a week for a few hours. Enough for the social/school skills she needs to keep fresh and still give us the flexibility to do mom and girl things the rest of the day/week. We love our time together A and I

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C and M both graduated from this lovely Baptist preschool; we love their teachers, curriculum and setting. We are so excited to return there for our final year ever of Preschool!! It's a great place to nourish her love of learning and Jesus. Her redshirt year will be filled with lots of great adventures and memories.

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I plan to soak up all the time I can with A this year. I know that once "school" of the official kind becomes a part her life it all changes. For now, we are going to make the best of this year and enjoy every moment we get together. When A heard that the other kids go back to school in August and she doesn't start until September, there might have been a little holler go up from her. She's looking forward to mom and A time too. We've got places to explore together, lunch dates with some of our "friends", tea parties to have in her room, and lots of fun planned.
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Redshirting works for our family this year and it has nothing to do with a mother not wanting to say goodbye to the preschool years just yet! By the time A graduates from college, my husband and I will be ready for the retirement community in a warm climate!!

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