The Color-Blind Bullet

Way back when, I studied genetics in high school and even thought that I may become a geneticist. Playing around with the possible matches based on the characteristics of two people was so fascinating. One of the first things I did was to see my probability of having children with color-blindness, because of my father's condition. While I don't remember why I never continued in my studies in that field, I do remember that if I had a son, he would have a 50% chance of being a carrier, but not himself be affected.

As fate would have it, my father-in-law was also color-blind. My husband is only a carrier; our future son would have had a 25% chance of having this condition. I hoped, however, that our son would be spared...I love colors. Being an artist and creative as I am, I have no idea what it would be like not to be able to see nuances of green or the beautiful variegations in a skein of yarn, nor do I want to.

My son is now almost 2 and he is so smart. He knows all the parts of the body (yes, all!), his letters and numbers, and some of his colors. His favorite is blue. When he sees my blue lace blocking mat, he likes to pull it out and announce, "Blue! Down!" while he drops it on the floor. I taught him green and yellow...and he knows those...I think. I tried to teach him red...at first I thought that maybe the word "red" is too hard to say. He has trouble with the r sound, after all. When we go to the play area in the mall, he happily points to the green lights in the rides and says the color, but doesn't pay attention to the red lights.

As obsessive as I can be, I tested him on his ability to see all colors as much as I could. I read color books to him every day and pointed out the different colors to him in his favorite alphabet books, each time hoping that he would point to a red object and say "red!".

The other day, he pulled out my lace blocking mats to play on again. He named the colors of each one as he pulled them down..."Blue! 'Lo! G(r)een!" I held my breath as he pulled on the red one..."G(r)een!"

I told my husband...What could this mean? Are my fears confirmed? Or is our smart little boy playing a trick on me? Do you think maybe he can't say Red?

We'll know when he is tested. For now, I tell myself there are worse things. He is still a healthy, active, funny little boy whom I love so much.

Information on Color-Blindness can be seen here.