New Eyes

We were pretty much stunned to find out recently that K needs reading glasses!

In anticipation of K going to public school next year, I decided to spread out some of the required to-do's and get his eye exam out of the way this winter. Especially because Jim told me that we actually have eye insurance, despite the fact that I was convinced that he had told me two years ago that we didn't. Silly me.

So, I prepped K for the exam by explaining what to expect, practicing reading things far away, with one eye closed, etc. He's a smart kid, but he's a worrier. It's tough to find the right balance for him of giving him enough information to help him be prepared and not freak out, but not give him too much information that he worries more and more and practically makes himself sick. We were walking the line with the eye exam. He had a blast practicing, but then kept telling me that his stomach was hurting until we got there, and for most of the exam. Can't win them all.

But he did what he was told and did really well. The doctor saw a slight problem with K's ability to focus so we had to make a separate appointment to dilate his eyes and check him again.

We practiced for the second exam and he was totally excited to go in again. He took the eye drops without problem and then got some cool sunglasses to protect his eyes once the dilation set in.

They also gave him a toy for being so good. No upset stomach this time!

The test proved that he needed reading glasses. I hadn't noticed any problems for him, other than occasional headaches that didn't seem to have a cause. He also wasn't interested in learning to read when I worked on writing, letters, sight words, etc. but I chalked it up to laziness and/or being a late bloomer with reading. Turns out it was partially that he was having a difficult time seeing it!

At the first appointment, K decided he wanted grey glasses. We found a good, dark grey pair right away the first day and they held them for us. After the second appointment, we still had to wait a few days for the lens, but now my boy officially wears glasses!

I was hoping he'd have perfect vision like Jim or his grandmothers did, but he's taking more after me. I got glasses when I was seven. My Dad and Jim's dad both got glasses young, too. At least it's just reading glasses. Much easier to keep them from getting lost or broken if he won't be wearing them all the time! And he just looks so cute in them!