The One Where She Couldn’t See The Cows

Raising children is always a challenge. Are you feeding them the healthiest food? Are you spending enough time with them teaching life lessons so they will become productive members of society?

Sometimes you can miss the basics. You don’t see the root cause of the problem.

When my daughter was in the second grade she was having trouble in class. She has always been a social butterfly but, this was different. Her grades were starting to suffer and up to that point, she had always been a great student and took pride in school work.

As the weekend rolled around, my wife and I took the kids on an adventure. It was really a Sunday drive but, to them, it was an adventure.

As we get out into the country while driving past a pasture full of cows, my daughter exclaims “Look at the horses!” Now we aren’t country folk in the usual sense but we do theknow difference between a horse and a cow and so did she.

“No, sweetie,” we say. “Those are cows.” “Oh, ok,” she replies. The rest of the day was uneventful.

The new week was upon us and there happened to be a meet the teacher open house at her school. Being good parents we were happy to attend.

Upon our introduction to the teacher, I bring up the lack of good grades. “Yes, I spoke to her first-grade teacher and she told me that just wasn’t like your daughter.” the lady explains. “Although, I have had to put her closer to the board because she says she can’t see the lessons.” the teacher finishes.

The bell in my head went off. “My daughter can’t see well.” A few days later we get her to the ophthalmologist and sure enough, she needed glasses.

Our little girl could have been classified as a slow learner or not motivated to learn but the root cause was she could not see.

Life can be like that. You focus on the symptom, missing out on the real reason the problem exists in the first place.