Embracing All Four Eyes
Sometimes the oddest things stick with you, and sitting on the bus listening to a friend complain about how terrible her school photos were is one of those things. I thought she looked fantastic. She thought she looked AWFUL. Mostly her issue was with her glasses.
I was YEARS from getting contacts at the time, so of course I was willing to embrace glasses on everybody.
But. Still. She really did look good. It bugged me that she didn't see it that way. She didn't see it that way to such an extreme level that she managed to convince her parents to let her get contacts. She redid her school photos minus the glasses and was very happy.
The same girl later went on to start doing liquid diets in junior high. So. I guess maybe she sucked at embracing her own beauty right at the start. Realizing that it all began in fourth/fifth grade has me just a little bit worried about The Big Kid. She's acutely aware of things that I had hoped she wouldn't know about for a few more years.
She checks to see if she looks fat in some clothes.
She has very strong opinions about her hair.
She worries.
But, maybe it's all going to be okay. I say that because my kid went and copied the girl I remember from Middle School. Miss Alexis, despite her youth, has officially become a wearer of contacts. There are a lot of really good reasons why it was time to have her make the switch from glasses to contacts. There's no need for me to go into the reasons here. I will, however, point out one thing.
The kid had a meltdown after getting her contacts fitted because she thinks she looks better with glasses.
"Mom, I'm just meant to wear glasses," she said. Then she told me about how all of her friends at school agree.
It's about time the kid embraced something awesome about herself. She does look good in glasses. Definitely.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Reader Comments (2)
This is a near and dear subject for me. I have always, ALWAYS hated my glasses. I do NOT wear them well. Or maybe it's that no one ever told me that I did when I was young. I've had them since I was 4 - I had relatives who used to say things like, "Boys seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses!" Seriously. I hear this in my head almost every time I decide to wear them in public.
However. I know that all of my kids will wear them. I make a point to let them pick out the ones THEY like the best. I tell them often that they look great in them (they do - and boy, Alexis really does, too!). And I try to wear mine more often now. Sigh. I try to remember that there are celebrities who don't actually NEED glasses but they wear them as an accessory.
I got my firs pair of glasses in 3rd grade. My eyes were changing so quick they put me in contacts at 11. I wore them until I was 39 at which point my eye no longer tolerated the contacts and I had to switch back to glasses. I eventually had Lasik. I had a love hate relationship with my glasses so I am happy that she is cool with her glasses.