Great positive attitude @@

[Gidgetdigit]

My business partner and I run an optics store. It really chaps my ass when parents have a negative attitude about glasses, and then pass that attitude on to their children.

This morning, I did an eye exam on a 7-year-old, who was a real sweetheart. It turns out that she is nearsighted and needs glasses in order to see the chalkboard or whiteboard in the classroom. She doesn't even need the glasses the rest of the day; it's only helpful when she is in school.

Well, you would have thought that this child was given a death sentence, the way the mom reacted.

"Oh, I feel so terrible! She inherited her bad eyes from me. Now she will have to wear glasses for life! I hate that I put that burden on her. I hated having glasses as a child! She will be handicapped for life."

Time out, lady. She is somewhat nearsighted and needs glasses for the classroom only. She is not about to go blind, she is not suffering from an incurable disease, and does not even have to wear glasses all day. In the big picture, she is doing quite well. Just because you didn't like wearing glasses as a child doesn't mean that she will have the same experience. It's your craptastic attitude that has made her resistant to wearing glasses in the first place.

[jjllbb]

With any luck her daughter will be more like me than like her.

When i found out i needed glasses in the 4th grade for the exact same reason I was totally excited. I couldn't wait to pick out the color and the style. I loved it.

[Cazzi]

In fairness, the mother could have had the happy(!) childhood experience of glasses that I had. I've had to wear them since I was about 2 and got bullied & called names all through school in the 70s

Saying that though, both my kids have needed glasses at some point for close/school work but I didn't cause the drama about it that mother did

These days it seems that glasses are a bit of a fashion accessory too so neither of my kids were teased about wearing them

[iradney]

When I was a kid (puts teeth in, grabs walker), there weren't really any nice frames.
Now, however...if it weren't for the fact that glasses slide down my nose and steam up when I work out, I would probably own about 5 or 6 pairs...

[Antisocial_Worker]

I had to get glasses when I was nine, which means I've been wearing them constantly for the past twenty years. I never minded, and never got any crap about them in school. Hell, I've always thought I looked better wearing glasses than not wearing them.

[fireheart]

Hell, I've always thought I looked better wearing glasses than not wearing them.

Same here. And ditto for my boyfriend.

For the OP, try to point out to the parents and/or kids that there are a lot of famous people who wear/wore glasses. Nothing wrong with it.

[Cazzi]

Hell, I've always thought I looked better wearing glasses than not wearing them.

I tried contacts for a while in my 20s.. and as I have naturally dark pigment under my eyes all I heard off everyone was "oh you do look tired" or "are you ill?"

Soon went back to the specs

[Antisocial_Worker]

I tried contacts for a while in my 20s.. and as I have naturally dark pigment under my eyes all I heard off everyone was "oh you do look tired" or "are you ill?"

Soon went back to the specs

I never even considered contacts after a friend of mine who wore them developed an eye infection. You know how when your eyes get irritated you can see the little red capillaries? Well... when he got that infection, that was the first time I ever saw blue veins in an eyeball.

Wear contacts? Hell to the no.

[Darkforge]

contacts are fine as long as you look after them properly, which is why a lot of optician's recommend daily disposables as they come clean and you just throw them away afterwards.

That aside, I wear glasses myself (I don't need them all the time, just for computer work, watching TV and cinemas) and see them as a fasion accessory. I hate people who think that they are a problem, even though my other half sees them as a burden but then she does have some hideous frames that came free and we can't really afford to buy new ones yet, a nice light frame would really suit her.

[Sheldonrs]

Well you can't spell glasses without asses.

[Gidgetdigit]

For the OP, try to point out to the parents and/or kids that there are a lot of famous people who wear/wore glasses. Nothing wrong with it.

Oh yes, absolutely!

Half the U.S. population will wear glasses or contacts at some point in their lives. Wearing glasses is nothing unusual.

I always wonder if the negative parents, when they take their kids to the doctor for vaccinations, tell their kids what a horrible, painful experience they are about to have.

To me, it's Parenting 101: if you act calm and matter-of-fact, most of the time your children will act the same way. If you are upset, angry, anxious, or afraid, they will pick up on it and react to a situation in a less than ideal manner. Parents are supposed to suck it up and not let their own issues affect their children's attitudes.