A Rant or Two...

Mikey ready for church, notice the sandals auntie em...

This blog has been lacking on the "rant" side of things lately, have no fear I have two items for you- if you are an optometrist or really enjoy hanging out in the "mother's room" this post may offend you.

The first... the eye doctor. So here's the thing, I wear contacts. This isnt a new thing, I have worn them for 3 or 4 years now. Since I have worn them for a bit, I am pretty well accustomed to going to the eye doctor to get a perscription (I had glasses that I never worn before that so this isnt my first rodeo), usually you go, they test your eyes, write you a new presciption, have you try on the lenses and then you go order the new ones. The whole process generally takes about 45 minutes from start to finish... not so much this time. I had my exam a couple of weeks ago- nothing new there, but at the end the eye doctor had to order the "tester" lenses since mine arent your run of the mill lenses. I was a little irritated but since it wasnt her fault I let it go. I do need to add in here that I had waited... too long to get an exam, I was on my last pair of contacts so I really needed to get this done. Also, my sweet mom watched Michael during the exam so he wasnt in there with me- this was fantastic. Okay back to the story, so I knew i would have to go in to "try on" the tester lenses, not thrilled, but understood. But here's the other thing, my new prescription and my old one are the same, the contacts are the same, nothing has changed besides that it has been a year. So I waited a week and the eye doctor called to have me go in, I go in try on the lenses and she tries to test my vision. At this point Michael is screaming, since Grammy went home he got to join me, he wasnt happy. Also at that point I was running on little sleep because it has been 5 weeks and the longest stretch of sleep I have gotten is 2.5 consecutive hours, on top of that while putting the contacts in I got mascara (waterproof of course) on one of the lenses. So I am stressed out listening to my baby cry, my eyes are tired and dry, and there is a black smudge... guess how the eye test went. So i tell the doctor, I am sure these are fine, they are the same lenses don't worry, and ask if I can go order them, at this point I am concerned with getting the baby to stop screaming and not reading the last line on the eye chart and she says "nope, I need to see how these lenses are working for you in a week and then I will write the prescription so you can fill it". Okay... I know that wearing the wrong prescription can damage your eye sight, but at the same time it isnt like she is writing me a prescription for an addictive pain drug, 3 visits to determine if my same prescription is working before I can order contacts (remember how I am out?) seems like overkill. On top of that bundle of fun, because my lenses are uncommon once they are ordered it will be a week or more before they are in, so by the time I get my new contacts I would have visited the eye doctor 4 times... 4 times are you serious?

Okay rant #2, the mothers room. Recently I have had the pleasant (or not) experience of visiting the mother's room at church. Please dont misunderstand, I am grateful there is a mother's room but this isnt the best one. It is right off the women's restroom, well really in the restroom so everyone that walks past to use the restroom or wash their hands gets to see you. There is a very thin (sheer really) white curtain but let's face it, it's see through and doesnt shut too well so everyone gets to see you (thank goodness for "hooter hiders"). Anyway, in addition to the fabulous location the little "mother's alcove" is hot, a good 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the building, why I dont know, but trust me, it does not make nursing with a cover very pleasant for mom or baby. Oh yes, and the nook/room/alcove is crowded, there are three large-ish chairs in there, and the space is about 6 feet by 6 feet. Anyway the room isnt my issue, my issue is the people hanging out in there not feeding babies! Let me paint you a picture, today during sunday school and when I had planned to be in primary Mikey needed to eat. Not a big deal, I gathered the supplies and we headed off to eat. I get to the little room and there is a mom in there (which is great because that is what the room is for) and another person... without a baby. I step over the woman without a baby and try to feed my son. Okay here is my issue, the little 10,000 degree alcove isnt a hangout spot, really it isnt. I am totally fine with other moms with babies "hanging out" in there but if your youngest child is in drivers ed (literally) I can't see why you would need to be in there, let alone sitting in there having a loud and LONG conversation! So back to my story, I take my baby in there to eat and it was crowded, and he is loud, and I dont love to participate in this activity outside of my home, the combination of that plus a baby that is hungry, hot, and not wanting to be covered led to some screaming on his part and frustration on mine, all the while I am sitting in a rickety chair because the good ones were taken by the people hanging out! Seriously, if you arent in there with a baby, why be in there at all? So I propose this... the mother's room is for mother's feeding their children not for hanging out and catching up on the latest ward gossip... the foyer is a great place for that- it's air conditioned, well lit, the chairs are comfy, not in the restroom, and most of all not in the way of the poor moms trying to feed their frustrated little babies! Okay I feel better.