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.
