Something wonderful happened to my seven-year old son this year: One of his best mates got glasses.
It’s funny how small things like this can make the world of difference. Before his friend got glasses my son had been the only child in his first grade class who wore them.
My little boy had been a bit reluctant to wear his – being the only one. No seven-year old wants to be different.
It surprised me that some of the children were picking on him a little. I don’t actually think it was the glasses, I think it was just the fact that he got diagnosed with myopia half way through the kindergarten year and it was just that something had changed.
I don’t think the kids meant to be cruel, but he became self-conscious.
He began to refuse to wear them, and to take them off at every opportunity.
With the help of his teacher (and a Harry Potter movie or two) we showed him how vital it was that he did use them to see the whiteboard at school. But he was still a little unsure about being the only child in a class of 22 with glasses.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by OPSM. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.
You should have heard the excitement in his voice when he came home and told me that Oscar had glasses too. There is no stopping the two of them now! They don’t even think twice about it.
It made me wonder whether it was usual for only one or two children in a class to have vision problems. But it seems that it may just be a simple case of under diagnosis.
According to a survey* by OPSM, one in six Australian children (aged 3-10) have experienced eye problems.
It is something easily overlooked by parents.
The research*showed that children were more likely to have had their feet sized for shoes or their teeth checked than their eyes tested in the last two years.