As of this week, my two youngest children now have glasses. They are five and three years old. My heart hurt a little to see them in their new flexible frames at such a young age, even though I suspected they would eventually need glasses (both Mark and I wear glasses).

Going through the process with the kids, I was reminded of my own experiences getting glasses when I was seven. My parents discovered that I needed them when I stopped being able to read street signs (we played a lot of car games as kids). At the optometrist’s urging,  I started wearing contact lenses at the age of 12. Because my prescription kept getting worse, she hoped that the rigid gas permeable lenses would help to keep my eyes from changing so rapidly. It worked.

I’ll never forget that first time I was able to see myself in the mirror without glasses. Up to that point, my reflection was too fuzzy to see. I only saw myself without glasses in photographs. In school, the glasses definitely made me a bit more self-conscious and shy in school. I was already one of the “smart kids” and glasses made me look the part even more.

I can’t help but wonder how the glasses will affect my kids. So far they’ve taken to them, but I wonder how this will change as kids get older, more critical.

I usually only put them on when getting ready for bed or working at home, but I want my kids to feel confident wearing their glasses in public.

Ah, parenting and the baggage we carry with us from our own childhood.