The irony

We noticed over the weekend that Olivia seemed to be struggling to see things in the distance. During breakfast on
Monday she asked me the time as she couldn't see the clock which was five metres away. A trip to the school nurse and after some research we managed to get an appointment with an eye specialist this evening. She confirmed my suspicions that Olivia has myopia (short sightedness) which is fairly advanced in a child so young. Olivia was visibly upset as she knew she had failed some of the tests.
We have no idea how long she has been unable to see clearly (she passed an eye test two years ago) as she has been adapting and coping and to her it was normal. She did admit that sometimes she struggles to see the words on the whiteboard but she sits at the front of her classes so she didn't think it was a problem and didn't mention it to us or her teachers.

Myopia is generally inherited so there was always a good chance she would need glasses as I have suffered from the condition since childhood. However it appears to have been accelerated in
Olivia due to her love of reading which just seems unfair. As her Mum I feel terrible that I didn't pick up on it sooner especially as I should know the signs and I feel guilty as recently I made the decision to have laser eye surgery and have my operation coming up soon. I've been talking about having this done for over 20 years and when I finally pluck up the courage we find out that Olivia needs glasses, so I can't even wear mine to be a good role model for her. I have no idea how she will adapt to glasses but knowing Olivia she will probably surprise us all with her sheer strength of character.