My nine year old got glasses yesterday. I was hoping she would take after her daddy when it came to eyesight, but unfortunately she's near-sighted. Just like me.
She's not happy.
Oh, she loved being able to read the signs, see faces and not have everything so blurry when she put them on. But she hates the idea of glasses. Why? Because boys in her class have already started making fun of her when she wasn't even wearing them yet.
Boys. No matter what the year, they never change.
I was halfway through eighth grade when I found out I needed glasses. I was new to school and had to have an eye exam by a nurse. I had no idea that the world wasn't blurry to everyone else or that people could actually read the words on the chalkboard at school without asking someone for help. And leaves on trees. That's what I remember most seeing that first day with glasses. A tree wasn't an undefined blob of green, but branches with leaves. So beautiful.
But I got teased, too. Another one of the horrors of Greenacres Junior High School.
Last night on the drive home, I explained to my daughter that I remembered how those "four eyes" comments made me feel like. I also told her how some boys will tease about anything and everything, but wasn't having a whole new world of sight open up better than worrying about them. I probably said too much by the time we arrived home. Needless to say, I don't think she was convinced, but she wore the glasses to school today. Fingers crossed her day goes well!
The worst part? She needs braces, too. Just like mom. At least we have a little time until all her baby teeth fall out, but I didn't even want to tell her what the boys are going to say about that!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
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14 comments:
Poor DD... Mine has had glasses for two years now. Luckily, she's homeschooled and doesn't get teased. BUT, my SIL always makes my DD take her glasses off for pictures. What she doesn't realize is that this makes my poor DD really self-conscious ("Mommy, am I not pretty with my glasses?").
URGH.
It isn't easy being a kid, is it?
And Marianne's SIL is a twit.
Marianne, I second what Tori said.
Melissa: Hugs, hugs, hugs to the girl.
I can sympathize because I remember having to start wearing glasses in 4th grade. I am hoping my kids will take after their father and not need glasses until they are in their 20's like he did. My hubby's vision is way better than mine.
Melissa the same thing happened to me. I got new glasses right when we moved to a new location and then to a new school. The kids just teased and teased, but guess who was on honor roll all year until graduation? Not them, but me the girl with the glasses who always carried books with her.
Tell Oldest it will get better and wearing glasses shows that we don't want to miss seeing what the world has to offer.
Marianne, that's not nice of SIL to do that.
Hi Melissa,
Poor kid - does she have to wear them all the time? I'm still bitter about this - when I got glasses (in third grade!) I only had to wear them when trying to see the board, etc, not when reading. But, the other kids would tell on me for not wearing them and I'd have wear when I wasn't supposed to, and I'm convinced it made my vision worse. [I know, but I still haven't gotten over it - I can't see *anything* without glasses/contacts now.]
Marianne, that's really sad. Poor girl.
Interesting for a few years glasses were really in (still are?) - especially the Harry Potter glasses...
I've been nearsighted since I was 2 years old. I'd worn contacts until they bacame popular when I was 12. And I've been wearing them ever since. I'm sorry that your daughter has to wear glasses and I hope the kids don't make it too hard on her. Boys can be real jerks. Tell her we all wish her the best and that glasses will bring attention to her pretty eyes. *g*
(That only sounds right coming from parents, but you get the idea.)
As for Marianne's SIL, I agree with Tori.
(And my Daughter needs glasses too, we're looking next month at them. She's looking forward to it!)
Have a good evening!
My youngest needed glasses in preschool just like her father and now when we look back, they were these huge things as large as her face, poor thing lol. My oldest needed them like me, for the blackboard at first and eventually all the time. My oldest hated hers but the youngest was used to having them all the time. Until the new eye doctor told them that at 13 they should have contacts! There was no getting that out of their heads. It was easy for my oldest daughter but the youngest still has problems (21). I hope they can get that Lasik surgery some day.
Oh, and the comment about the trees - when I got contacts after starting my first job at 18, that was the first comment I made - oh, there's leaves and blades of grass lol.
I was in fourth grade when I got glasses. They were corrective lenses - they didn't work. Now I'm in bifocals. Sheesh.
Kids always have to have something to make fun of. It never changes.
well my daughter WANTED braces and glasses, i dont understand kids these days, it seems they are trying tomake them so ugly, black everything, piercings everhwere on face
i just dont get it
Tori! LOLOLOLOL... **snort**
Sadly, you're right. I won't talk about the weight comments SIL makes to DD...("Mommy, am I fat?").
See why I want to move?
Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate all the comments!
Marianne - argh. That sil needs a talking to or something. I do hope you can move!
limecello - she is supposed to take them off when she reads or is doing writing. The doctor gave her a way to tell when to wear them or take them off. I sure hope the kids in her class don't do that to her! Yikes!
I remember being the first kid in my class to wear glasses, I was 7. And the only other one wearing glasses was my teacher, a 65 year old woman... really traumatic!
However, now, glasses are so fashionable... there is so many models, so it is not as bad as before :)
I have been blessed with good vision. My brother though was not so fortunate. For weeks when he was little his grades kept slipping. His teacher called my mom told her that he wasn't doing well. My mom felt sorry for him. Well, for some reason my mom never noticed he sat practically right in front of the t.v. while he was little. Until one night my mom got mad at him for almost tripping her when she walked by the t.v. to get to the bathroom because the room was dark and she didn't see him. She told him to go sit on the couch. Well, he did and he wound up on the floor again a few minutes later. My mom got mad and said, "I told you to sit on the couch." My brother told her but I can't see the t.v.! She never realized that was why he sat so close to it.
Well, my mom took him to the eye doctor and it turned out he needed glasses because he couldn't see distances. That explained everything! When he came home and was standing in the living room he looked out the picture window. He exclaimed to my mom that he could see the squirrel sitting in the tree over there! He was so amazed that he could see that far with his new glasses. My mom was so shocked that she never knew he couldn't see things far away.
It turned out at school he sat practically in the back of the room. His grades went back up since he could now see the chalkboard!
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