dianaschnuth

Two weeks ago, Connor (age five-and-a-half) had his first trip to the eye doctor. We got him an appointment at the same doctor his dad and I have started seeing, with the intention of getting him in the habit of having a regular eye exam, since (given his heredity) he’s going to need glasses eventually.

Our appointment was first thing in the morning, before school. We got there and checked in at the front desk, and got paperwork to fill out and a buzzer for when they were ready for us. Once our buzzer went off in the waiting room (where we didn’t even wait long enough for me to finish the paperwork), one of the nurses took us back to get Connor’s history and give him a couple of screening tests. Then it was off to the exam room to hurry up and wait.

I told him to look excited for the picture, but to be fair, he actually was.  Continue reading →

Connor met a new friend at the playground today who taught him how to climb up the outside of the rope bridge. His new friend — a first-grader — is clearly more of a risk-taker than he is, although Connor was totally stoked to be up on top of the net like a big kid.

Me, I did my best to play it cool and supervise without freaking out. My son needs to learn what risks are OK and how to get over his fears — and I need to learn when to give him space and how much — and the playground is the perfect place for that.

Another mom helped him down when he was scared and I was on the ground trying to talk him through it. I was glad for the adult help, but had also kind of wanted him to figure it out for himself. Even though he got help down, though, Connor considered the net-climbing a rousing success and the highlight of his day.