Sometimes parenthood feels like a never ending hike through unfamiliar territory, where you never know what is around the next turn or what you will need to get you up a difficult trail. Whether it is a new type of tantrum, an ingrown toenail, or self-esteem issues, everything has to be encountered for the very first time, and the process can take you by surprise.
We entered into new “terrain” a couple of weeks ago. I sat in the eye examination room with Madi and watched as she couldn’t see the letters projected on the wall…and then she couldn’t see the next row…or the next. I can’t say that I was surprised, because Ben and I both have bad eyesight, but I was still hoping that our genes would skip over her. She was a little nervous at first, but we went out and found some cute purple frames which cheered her up.
But then came the aftermath.
She alternated wildly between being excited about her new glasses and being terrified about wearing them to school. In her words, she was worried that “she wouldn’t look like herself anymore, so no one would like her”. Even after her teacher told her that she wears glasses too and even after talking about her classmate who has glasses AND friends, she was still scared.
On the day we picked up her glasses, she slid to the other end of the spectrum…pure joy. I have never seen anyone more excited about getting glasses in my life!
Much cuter than my first pair of glasses, that’s for sure.
She went through the normal adjustment of walking like the ground was slanted, but she quickly got the hang of it, and wore them for the rest of the night. Her excitement lasted…until she thought about school again. It didn’t help that she came across an article about teasing and read about how some kids with glasses are called “four eyes”.
We did whatever we could to get her ready for wearing her glasses to school – cajoling, discussing, praying, encouraging – but the path ended at the classroom door. We would be there on the other side, but whatever happened on the way there was up to her. Of course, she survived, but she wasn’t keen on all of the attention everyone gave her when she came into class. She even did her best to ignore the comments from a few of the kids, but in true Madi fashion, wrote a “note” to her teacher to tell her how she did not like what the kids said to her about her glasses.
I know this is only the first of many “changes” she will have to negotiate, and I’m sure we will have to go through this again with at least one more kid. But at least now we have hacked out our trail so we can find our way the next time around without falling into too many sinkholes…no reading about how to tease someone about glasses…remember to get a case that fits their glasses…give plenty of hugs…and take a bunch of cute pictures!
I LOVE the glasses! She looks adorable. I’ve been looking for purple glasses myself! 🙂
I remember my first pair of glasses!! She looks very cute and sounds like she braved her first day at school like a champ. 🙂
Thanks guys…she is a tough cookie! 🙂 It helps that they do actually help her see better…
Cousin Malachi can’t wait to see her and also show her that he’s been wearing his lately too!