Thursday, December 17, 2009

Eyeglasses Guest Post




Kids & Eyeglassesby: Hillary @ GlassesUSA

If you have a young child who has told you in the past
"Mommy, I can't see the chalk board..." -you should consider yourself lucky.
Most children will not tell you that they can't see. In fact, my middle sister was told by her son's nursery school teacher that his behavior might be caused by a problem with his vision. Luckily for my sister, her son did not need eyeglasses at four-years-old. Unfortunately, statistically speaking - my nephew will need eyeglasses by the time he's 10-years-old. Luckily for my nephew, eyeglasses have become a lot more fashionable.

So, how do you handle a kid who needs prescription glasses?
Well, consider the factors against a kid who wears glasses. Kids in school might make fun of them for being "four eyed" but chances are, in this day and age -
wearing glasses is considered cool.
The younger the child is when they start wearing glasses, the better they are at getting used to them. Also, if a child is used to seeing someone else in the house wearing glasses, the stigma that glasses are for nerds won't really exist.

How else can you help your child adjust to wearing eyeglass frames? Give them encouragement. The more you tell your kid that they look great and perhaps they even look smart, the more comfortable they will feel. Making wearing eyeglasses a positive thing. Remind your son or daughter to wear their eyeglasses at all times but also teach them to be careful because eyeglasses can break. If your daughter is a fashion fiend, reward her by purchasing more than one pair of glasses for her when she does something well. She will start to see that glasses are not a negative appliance that she has to wear (like head-gear!) but rather a fashionable accessory that can accent her wardrobe.

The more positive incentives and encouragement you give your kids when it comes to wearing eyeglasses, the easier it will be for them to adjust. If kids are mean at school, remind them that bullies just want to get a rise out of them and also that some of the smartest and most successful people in history have worn eyeglasses.