My dilemma

School is starting next week here. Today, Heidi and I went over to her school, new school for her, to walk around and get familiar with the layout and all. You may or may not know that Heidi and Alex are both legally blind, from a genetic retinal dysfunction called Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. To look at them most people never realize that they are visually impaired, just a couple of (very cute) kids with glasses. Only when they have their white canes, is it apparent to others that they don't see very well.

Anyway, this summer, Heidi became more comfortable and confident riding her bike. So the inevitable question arose. "Can I ride my bike to school". We live too close to the school for a bus, so I was planning on either driving or walking with her to school, weather permitting.

Heidi sees well enough to ride her bike to her friend's house without any trouble, however, we worry that she isn't aware enough of cars to be safe in maneuvering around the school with lots of cars around. And then there is the other thought......

Picture this......little girl riding her bike to school, parking it in the bike rack and then getting her fold up white cane (signifying that she is blind) out of her backpack and walking off to class using her cane. Is there something wrong with this picture? :-)

But how to explain all of that to Heidi. I wanted to say, "No, because I said so!" But no, I hope I explained diplomatically that it isn't safe enough for her to ride a bike to school. Thankfully, she accepted it philosophically enough.