… is that she wears glasses. Proper, prescription glasses. The kind that professors and grannies and hipsters wear. The kind that help people see better – further, closer, clearer. The thing is, she’s not a professor or a granny or a hipster, she’s my little little girl… and she’s not even a year old.

Now I know that I’m not the first mother to have a Little with glasses or the first mom to have to patch her little one like a “real-life pirate princess*” but this is a first for me. And, the thing about firsts is that you’re never really prepared for it. You see (excuse the pun) there isn’t a chapter in What to Expect that covers ‘Your little has a squint. Now what?’ and there isn’t a section in the antenatal class booklet that outlines the fact that what’s normal up to 6-months old is, post the 6-month mark… “Get your butt to an opthalmologist pronto.”

An opthal-what? Exactly.

That’s why I’ve started this blog. To share, to encourage, to educate.

I’m not a doctor or a specialist or a therapist, I’m just a mom who Googled ‘strabismus’ (medical speak for ‘squint’), freaked out a tad (okay, a lot) and burst into tears when the Doc said the word ‘surgery’, and then burst into tears again when I relayed the diagnosis** to hubby.

I’m just a mom trying to do the best for her Little and learning all sorts of interesting things along the way – like somebody needs to design less ‘Disney channel threw up’ eye patches and don’t even get me started on the swimming goggle-esque things that pass for infants’ eyewear these days – but that’s a post for another day.

*rather charming description courtesy of Little’s cousin, Sophie Grace.

** not life-threatening but life-altering none the less. No, I’m not a drama queen, I’m a first time mom.