The Intelligent Princess

We've had the glasses for one week now and it seems to be going well. She wears them about 80% of her awake time, sometimes more. I don't want to make it a big power struggle so when she takes them off, I just ask her if she wants a little break from them and I fold them up and take them away. Then, a few minutes later we put them back on again.

She has a backup pair and a main pair. We went to this amazing optical store that the hospital recommended. They were fantastic. They had a whole room dedicated entirely to children. It was personalized, one-on-one attention and service. The man who helped us was super knowledgeable and helped us pick some really great fitting frames for Willa. He had a lot of good points that I had never thought of. For example, square or rectangular frames on kids aren't good because often the child will look over the top of the frame.

We picked a pair of frames, but when I got home and called the insurance they wouldn't cover it. I cancelled the order and then we went to another store that the insurance did cover. What a difference! It was not a very pleasant experience. It wasn't bad, but compared to the other store... there was just no comparison. Still, we found a pair of glasses for Willa but the selection was very, very small and none of them fit her great. We ordered them and then that night I was talking to my mom. Willa has to wear the glasses every day and it's going to be a big adjustment. She should have something that is comfortable, durable, and that looks cute on her. The following morning I called the first place and reordered the good glasses. She could use the insurance pair as a back-up; it can't hurt to get a two year old a second pair of glasses.

Here are her insurance glasses. I picked a photo of her looking down so you don't get the glare. They are actually pretty cute in a hipster-ish way. They just are a smidge too big and slide down her nose a little. Just not as high quality. I also think they kind of take over her face.

Playing with Bridgett in their respective princess dresses. Willa's was a Christmas gift from her O'Kelley cousins and it is very much loved. It even got worn to the doctor's office last week! Bridgett is the most princess, girly girl in the world, so we decided to get her one for her birthday a few weeks ago.

Here is her new, better pair of glasses. They are a light polished purple. They're not the cutest thing if I'm going after style, but for a little tot I think they are great. They fit SO much better, they stay on her and I think they are more comfortable. She had been wearing the not-as-good pair for a few days when we went to get these glasses. When she tried them on she said, "I like these glasses!" They came in a brown, which was super cute, but since her other pair is dark I wanted something that didn't overpower her little face. You can tell the frames are of so much better quality and they have a lifetime warranty. So if they break, we'll put on her back-up pair and ship these back to the store to be replaced.

How do I feel about all of this? Her prescription is actually quite strong, which was surprising to me. I'm sad that she hasn't been seeing well and I'm happy that we can correct her vision. I'm sad because it's hard for a little girl to want to wear glasses. She has to wear them all the time. She's been pretty good about it, but sometimes I wish we didn't have to put them on her. It changes her little face so much to me and even though I think she's super cute, it makes me a little sad, a little overprotective. Right now she's getting lots of compliments on them, so I think she sees them as a positive thing. (We got the first pair Saturday afternoon so the next day was Sunday and at church she got tons of positive attention from everyone, which made her happy to wear them.) I'm scared for the day when she might get her feelings hurt about them. Those are my thoughts. I'm not very good with change so it's hard to see such a big change on my little girl.