Princess Bubblegum Sees the Light
Somewhere between the day when the little boy made fun of "Little Miss Four Eyes" and the day he permanently nicknamed her "Princess Bubblegum," Alexis stopped wearing her glasses. I mean, she wore them in the classroom at school when she really NEEDED them, but she stopped being an enthusiastic lover of her vision correction stylings.
She is aware that the little boy is making fun of her because he likes her. That doesn't stop her from being all hurty and upset about the glasses thing.
I caught wind of the fact that she wasn't wearing them right around the 14,013rd time she mentioned it. I never claimed that I pay full attention when the kid tells me things. I especially don't pay attention when it seems like she's tattling. And she was. She tattled on the kid who made fun of her and she tattled on him again and then she tattled on him one more time just for good measure.
I have no patience for tattling, especially when I've made about a dozen suggestions as to how she could handle the situation, but she refuses to anything other than get all hurty and run to her mommy.
ANYWAY.
Alexis stopped wearing her glasses all of the time. Given that she very barely needed them, I didn't really care. Then there came the day when it started to seem like maybe she slightly-more-than-barely needed them. Then there came a day when it seemed as if she maybe actually needed them.
So off to the eye doctor we went. I can't seem to schedule myself for much needed appointments like that, but I'm like white on rice with the kid's appointments.
You already know where this is going. Of course the kid's eyes got worse. They got enough worse that the glasses are no longer a maybe.
As Alexis and I walked out of the eye doctor's office, I worried. I worried that she would continue to not want to wear her glasses. I worried that it would get in the way of her, you know, BEING ABLE TO SEE. She had already admitted that she was having trouble seeing the board at school. It's not going to get better.
We jumped in the car and started towards another part of town. Alexis peered through her new glasses. Suddenly, she blurted, "Momma! I can read that sign from here! And that one! AND THAT ONE!" She went on and on about how much easier it was to look at the world. She was really very excited about the whole thing.
It's only been a week, so I don't know how the whole thing will end. It has been interesting watching the kid try to decide between being cute and being able to see her world. Here's to hoping she figures out she can be both cute (with glasses!) and able to see.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Reader Comments (5)
I know how this feels - from Alexis' perspective and from yours. I wore glasses from the time I was 4 and our Oldest Boy wears them now (he got them in 1st grade and he's now in 4th). He doesn't like it. He got a bit more used to it when I forced MYSELF to wear my glasses more often than not so that he could see it was ok. I stopped doing this when I started training (I'm doing the Pittsburgh Half Marathon) because running/sweating with regular glasses on stinks. He hasn't mentioned it lately, so maybe it will all work out.
I think she looks so adorable in her glasses! She should just think of them as one more accessory she can add to her wardrobe. I know some celebrities wear them even when they don't need them so they'll seem more respectable.
Even I struggle with wanting to wear glasses and see better or wear my contacts and still see but not quite the same. (Stupid astigmatism.) And I KNOW I look cute/okay in glasses. I love glasses and see them as an accessory to my outfits. But it's still a struggle, even more so in the summer because hi, cute sunglasses.
Tell her she's not alone!
I started wearing glasses in 5th grade. Between then and my mid-twenties I went through periods of "not wearing them to be cool." Eventually I decided the coolest thing was to be able to see.
I'm guessing that there is little you can do to make her keep her glasses on as she goes through phases when everything feels awkward. (At least glasses can be taken off. I could never take off my freckles or my height, which were other things that gave me displeasure growing up.) Eventually she will do the right thing or do the contact thing or the lasik thing.
Enforcing the wearing of glasses when you can and letting her pick out cute frames is about all you can do at this point.
Dear Alexis,
Just you remember that Geek Chic is a thing. And it's a thing until WE decide we're done with it. So there. You just go ahead and look awesome and be awesome just like the rest of us fabulous ladies.
Love,
Katie (& her glasses)
THIS: Here's to hoping she figures out she can be both cute (with glasses!) and able to see.