Parenting: Getting Glasses

Getting glasses!

When my littlest came home from nursery after a preschool eye check with a letter saying we should take her to an optician…to say I was surprised would be an understatement. She could see just fine. She was getting on great at preschool. I would have known if she needed glasses… wouldn’t I?

But I also knew if she did need glasses this was going to be a big milestone for her. And our first step was taking her to the right place. Somewhere that would make the experience positive and where I felt I could trust what they were doing. So after a glowing recommendation we took her to Clearvue Opticians in Currie.

We talked about everything that might happen before we went, and watched an episode of Topsy and Tim where Tim gets glasses. We arrived in plenty of time so that she could check the place out and she had good fun spotting Harry Potter-style glasses.

But despite our best efforts when she sat down in an unfamiliar room full of crazy looking instruments she took one look at me and said “Mummy, I’m a bit scared”.

My heart was in a puddle on the floor. I wanted to scoop her up and do my mummy thing. The only thing that allowed me to stand on the sidelines was seeing that she was in such good hands; the optometrist Jonathan was absolutely amazing with her.

I’d been sold on the place after reading he had a special qualification in Paediatric Eye Care but nothing can tell you what a person will really be like. He was so calm and talked to her (and us) about everything he was doing…and answered all of our endless questions. By the time all was said and done she was so happy with herself.

Now if it were me facing the prospect of getting glasses I’d be thinking of it as a fun opportunity in accessorizing. I wasn’t so sure that’s how she’d see it. I was worried about her being vulnerable to teasing, about them being uncomfortable or her not wanting to wear them. She’s only 4 but…fourmones are a real thing!

In the end I think if it had turned out she didn’t need glasses she would have been disappointed. We headed out to The Centre, Livingston to get her kitted out and she now has her very own glasses case and cleaning cloth. And it’s amazing how many “glasses buddies” she has found in the family and at preschool to make her feel like she is part of a special club.

As it turns out the biggest problem has been perfecting the art of wearing glasses and an Alice band at the same time!

I’ve never had glasses so this has been a learning curve - for both of us! I’m so glad we did a bit of research into local opticians and took her to just the right place to start her on this journey.

The parenting column is contributed by Laura Archibald. Laura lives in West Lothian with her family and their campervan Hank. She is mummy, wife, blogger and full-time personal assistant to her two girlie girls.