Special Specs

Around Thanksgiving Reese began complaining to us that she couldn't make out letters or numbers. She passed the vision screening at her 4 year old check up with flying colors, so we weren't sure whether to take her seriously. Rather than risk it,though, we decided to have her eyes checked during our winter break from school.

(This is also the age at which I first got glasses--see below--although I out grew the need for them in elementary school....and then I had children. Now, my eyes are warped and I need them again. Oh, the circle of life...)

Reese was quite a trooper for the exam--she had her eyes dilated, experienced the glaucoma test for the first time, and read LOTS of eye charts. (Good thing she knows her letters and numbers!) The exam and all of the fancy eye-checking equipment yielded the same results: Reese is slightly far-sighted. While most children are far-sighted at her age, her vision deficit was just significant enough to require glasses.

Finding children's frames for a 4 1/2 year old is a tough gig. Most "kid" frames are for school-aged children, and any smaller frames you find come at a premium since they're marketed toward kids whose vision is way worse that Reese's. For the sake of finances, and the likelihood that these glasses WILL be lost or maimed in the near future, we took Reese to Target to pick out a pair. Her favorites? A purple pair in the clearance section. Score!

We picked up her glasses after our trip to Boston. Then came the real challenge: getting into a routine of wearing them. Reese only needs her glasses for reading, writing, and close-up viewing (think iPad), so the edict of "don't take off your glasses," wasn't going to cut it. Add on some complaints and headaches while her eyes adjusted, and the first few weeks were a real roller coaster. Some days she'd remember to bring her glasses to school but leave her case at home, other days she'd forget them altogether, and on still other days an empty case would accompany her to school. I'm sure her teachers were not impressed. I'm happy to report that we've finally gotten our act together and she willingly wears them when she's supposed to.

More to come later on all of her reading and writing that's suddenly "clicked" for her since she began sporting her four-eyed look.