Our eldest

Yesterday I took Mercedes to the optometrist (the eye doctor) for her first check up. They recommend taking them in sometime in their third year...so I was just doing that. WELL Mercedes has 60/20 vision in her right eye and 30/20 in her left. That is a +4 prescription in the right and a +2 in the left. She is far sighted. She needs to wear glasses, likely, until 12 or 13 years old. For the next year or 2 we are to patch her left eye for at least 4 hours a day...to strengthen the right eye. The optometrist said that it was really good we brought her in now. There were not any really strong clues that there was anything wrong with her vision. Her left eye has been doing all of the work. Kids are very good at using only one eye. But she looked straight at you with both eyes. She has no trouble tracking etc. Eyes grow a lot from years 3-5 or 6...so I am really glad we did the check up. I would have never thought of eye trouble in a million years...I guess that is why we pray for wisdom, from God, as parents. She got her Disney Princess glasses today. She looks very cute!

I have to say she handled everything really well. They dilated her eyes to get the full prescription and the optometrist said she would cry a lot when the drops were put in but she didn't. I was so proud of her. I on the other hand was a wreck (I didn't show it) On the inside I was in near tears. I felt so much guilt for not having brought her in almost a year sooner. She has complained off and on about headaches and she would blink her eye funny sometimes, but not always. I should have clued in. "should have"...you know guilt trips are not from God and neither are "should haves". I have been reminding myself of that for the past 2 days. I am thankful that we live in a time when these things are not a big deal.

I also took her to the dentist today because she had been complaining about her gums bothering her for about 2 weeks. So I took her in and they said that she has been grinding her teeth. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...needless to say it's been an upward battle to get to the point to believe that we have been decent parents at all.

We are in a battle. We are consumed with defeating our foe. And the great thing is that the big picture is...WE WILL WIN!

Tama