How Long Has That Been on Her Neck?

The brunette twin woke up on day complaining about her neck hurting. When I felt the back of her neck, there was a sizable bump. It was soft and squishy, but it was there. Within a few hours, I pulled her out of school to visit the doctor.
During the exam the doctor looked at me and said, "How long has that been on her neck?" In my parent of the year moment I said, "I don't know."
It's the problem with independence, isn't it? As the girls do more and more stuff by themselves, we have fewer opportunities to notice things like bumps and bruises. If I still brushed her hair twice a day, I would have seen the bump on the back of the brunette twin's neck. As it is, Daddy brushed her hair right before bed. It's more of a check to make sure she did a good job on her own than anything else, so he didn't notice the bump either.
The doctor just kept talking when I was sure she was going to say something like, "What do you mean you don't know?" She didn't show any reaction to my response, but I certainly had a reaction. Even though I realize the girls are older now and need more privacy, I need to do a better job of checking in with them to see what new issues require our attention.