photo via flickr
It became quickly apparent at last week’s eye exam that Pumpkin needed eyeglasses. She remained composed as we started looking at frames in the office. After trying on the fifth pair she “didn’t like”, she turned to the woman helping us and asked “Will I have to wear them to school too?”. The woman responded with a nod of her head. That’s when Pumpkin turned to me with tears in her eyes, hoping i might tell her differently. All I could do was choke out an “it’ll be okay” as I tried to hold in my own tears. I know what it feels like to be the “girl with glasses” because I had glasses in kindergarten too.
Since that day she’s come back to being the composed and confident little girl we all know–a little girl who’s even showed some excitement about getting her glasses on Tuesday, though I know the fear of being “the girl with glasses” is still right below the surface. I know she’s worried the other kids might not like her because she has to wear glasses. I know because she told me. I know because I’ve felt the same way.
So, to help ease her fears, we’ve been noticing every “girl with glasses” and talking about how cool and smart and fun and special they are. I think she’s especially liked a couple of The Girls with Glasses Shows I’ve found for her.
Here’s where I need your help.
If you are a “girl with glasses”, I’d love it if you could send a picture of yourself rockin’ your glasses. I would love to have a tons of photos to show her, to help kick off her inaugural week of glasses wearing with courage and confidence. You can:
1. E-mail it to me at carrie(at)thismamamakesstuff(dot)com
2.Post the photo on your blog & link to it in the comments
3. Tweet the photo to @thisiscarrie
4. Spread the word to all your friends that I need pictures of “girls with glasses” this week!
5. If you are on Twitter or Facebook maybe you’d be kind enough to share something like this: “Are you a Girl with Glasses? A 5yo girl needs your photo –>http://bit.ly/9NqYq7 #glassespride”
At the very least, I hope when she walks into kindergarten this week as the only “girl with glasses” in the class, she’ll know she’s really not alone.
I’ll start:
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{ 47 comments }
Twitter: mommymae
September 19, 2010 at 1:13 pm
we’re on it! i’ll get started when book projects are done ’round here. my scout is excited to help!
Ohhhh, I’M ON IT. 🙂
Lil’ Pumpkin needs to check out Ficklets owned by the amazing Ros Guerrero – visit http://ficklets.com.
She’ll be the coolest kid in her class with Ficklets-adorned glasses. 😀
Heather
Twitter: MotherhoodnMe
September 19, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I took my picture with my new glasses that I love! They are pink and teal, sounds loud but they are adorable. You will have to excuse my sad state because I am in bed as we speak with pneumonia, but tell your 5 yro that she is going to love having glasses!
Dooce’s daughter had to get glasses recently!
http://dooce.com/
I used to have a Collection of Spectacle on my website, a collection of pictures of bloggers and their glasses, but it is no more. I wish I could show it to you! Since I can’t, I tweeted a call to come here and share: http://twitter.com/schmutzie/status/24971635503
I was 12 and just starting junior high when I had to get my first pair of glasses. I remember how embarrassed and awkward it made me feel to be that girl in glasses. But over time, I grew to love wearing glasses and now, I feel naked with out them.
My 14 year old daughter just found out on Thursday that she needs BIFOCALS so she’s kinda dying a painful teen death over here. My son has been wearing glasses since he was 8 and he loves how grown up and special they make him feel. Hopefully my daughter will love the glasses we get for her too.
Good luck!
Twitter: srah
September 19, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I was so excited when I got glasses at age 8, because I thought it would just reinforce my place as one of the “smart kids” in class. Nothing makes you look smart like glasses!
I got glasses in grade 6, and my daughter got hers at the end of grade 1 (May 2009)(but probably should have had them sooner). I’ll email a couple pictures of her. She just picked up pairs 3 & 4 after losing pair #2 (they lasted May-Aug 2010), after scratching and squashing pair #1.
I was a girl with glasses -and still am- since I was 7.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nahuatlv/3685351899/
It will be fine.
Good look!
I’m a girl with glasses! In fact, my avatar all over the Internet is based on one of my favorite photos of myself, specifically *because* of my glasses – it’s on my “about me” page: http://thecreativejunkie.com/who-am-i/
I’ve since changed the style of my glasses but I’m still bespectacled! It’s just a part of who I am and I actually feel strange without them. My ten year old wears them as well – you can see a bunch of photos of Helena here and as you can tell, she doesn’t let glasses stop her from being the awesome kid that she is: http://thecreativejunkie.com/2010/08/20/book-wide-open/
Only cool people wear glasses!
Twitter: MissusSmith
September 19, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I too am a Girl With Glasses (starting in 3rd grade for me) and my own daughter became a GWG a month before her kindergarten year. I’m going to scrounge up some pictures to email to you now!
Glasses rock! 🙂
My daughter is 4. She has been wearing glasses since she was 15 months old. I’ve been wearing glasses for awhile myself.
http://yfrog.com/jdpttvcj
http://yfrog.com/4o4meyj
http://yfrog.com/bgcfsnj
Oh..and we have gone through MANY MANY pairs of glasses with my darling girl..as in we are on pair #13. That’s what happen when they start wearing glasses so young 🙁 And my sweet girl is in pre-k, so far {as far as i know} nothing has been said to her {in school} about her glasses.
The little ones are getting glasses younger and younger these days, but at least the styles are FUN! I got mine in 4th grade, in the 70s, and yeah, scary. I tweeted you with a pic of my 6th grader rocking her specs. Your little Pumpkin will be just fine, and she’ll look fantastic. Hopefully all these photos will help her feel a little less self-conscious and a little more fabulous. Good luck!
I absolutely LOVE little girls with glasses, though I know what a pain they can be, after a while you learn to ‘work’ them and ‘own’ them and all of those other words that mean ‘rule the world.’ I’ve had mine since 5th grade. I got braces the same week. I hope your daughter finds the fun of glasses, I bet she chose a great looking pair. Here’s me, http://bit.ly/9VHV3e
I love your photo!! Your glasses are super adorable (and so is your hair color!!)
Linked some photos here: http://lareine27.blogspot.com/2010/09/from-one-glasses-girl-to-another.html
I’m a girl with glasses!
http://glassposse.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/girls-with-glasses/
Twitter: ScrapprsWkshp
September 19, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Betcha anything she won’t be the only girl with glasses in her class! Teach her now that she is cool and smart and amazing, and the glasses are just another tool in her arsenal of awesomeness! I have a teenage daughter who rocks her glasses and even turned down the contacts we offered her at 13 because they’re a part of who she is. I’ve forwarded this to her and her friends, I’m sure they’ll respond!
i adore the girls with glasses. i saw this post via summer bellessa’s twitter, and i had to participate! i’ve been a girl with glasses since i was 9 years old. 🙂
here are a couple of photos of me wearing my favourite pair:
http://rebelwings.blogspot.com/2010/03/sometimes.html
awww bless her heart!! I rock glasses & contacts. Have my contacts in tonight, but I bookmarked your blog & will send a pic of me rockin my glasses tomorrow.
I am also a girl with glasses. First pair in 3rd grade!! My pic is on its way.
http://karenesia.blogspot.com/2010/09/im-girl-with-glasses-too.html
I got them in second grade 🙂 sublimely maroon. And totally awesome.
Hey! My girlfriend posted a link on Facebook and I took the time to glean my photos off my albums and make a post just for you and your daughter.
http://sepulvedablvd.blogspot.com/2010/09/ladies-with-specs.html
I remember when I got my glasses. I was nine. I had my annual eye exam and was told I was fine and wouldn’t really need glasses for a couple more years. I cried and cried. I really wanted glasses. Both my parents, my big sister, and big brothers had them. I felt left out. My doctor relented and let me pick out a pair. They were AWESOME! Pink Superwoman glasses. I think specs make you look so intelligent! They can be so fun to wear! There’s so, SO many more styles available now and it makes wearing them a lot easier. =) Good luck with finding the perfect pair!
Twitter: MyFavEverything
September 19, 2010 at 8:36 pm
You are SERIOUSLY the coolest mom ever! It is so fun to read your posts in my reader! They always make me smile, and also wish I was just 1/100th as creative as you!! I remember getting my classes in 4th grade and being ECSTATIC! I had no idea that THAT is what the chalkboard actually looked like. I thought not seeing things was just my problem, glasses literally changed my world. Not sure if I can get my hands on a photo (old school, grandma’s house, BIG boxes…), but I just remember my amazing mom letting me pick out glasses like any other accessory, I had a drawer full….and I loved them!
My sweet 11 year old had to suffer getting glasses last year. Now she thinks nothing of it and I always smile when I see her in them because she looks so posh in them. Oh, and nobody in her class said a word.
http://bids2calvin.blogspot.com/2010/01/tres-nerdy-or-tres-chic.html
Pumpkin, glasses RULE!
http://whoorl.com/archives/4293
Here’s a flickr set I put together with some pictures of my oldest in her glasses. She had to get them in 3rd grade and was a little worried at first. We showed her lots of pictures of some pretty famous pretty ladies in glasses (like Lisa Loeb). She’s a little older now, so can wear contacts if she wants. Half of the time though she still chooses glasses because she says they go perfectly with some of her outfits.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/runwiththefishes/sets/72157624996402916/with/659915639/
Twitter: sweetsalty
September 20, 2010 at 7:57 am
Sent here by Ms. Whoorl. I was five when I got my glasses. Mine were prescribed when my family lived in England, and there was one wire-rimmed style to choose from. “Style” is misleading. Still. Rockin’ the 1978.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetsalty/2254962271/in/set-72157600031277345/
I don’t have a photo right now…BUT- I wore glasses starting when I was one…PLUS- I had an eyepatch. That’s right….doesn’t get much cooler than that! Honestly though, I loved it, and got to pick a special sticker to put on my patch every day to match my outfit. And my favorite doll had glasses and a patch just like me, so that I didn’t feel alone. Might be a good strategy for your little one!
Beth H Reply:
September 20th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Courtney, did you have strabismus?? My daughter has accomodative esotropia (a lazy eye that goes back and forth between both eyes..the muscle was too short. they did surgery july09, but didnt put her in a patch.)
I wish I had a picture of me in glasses when I was in seventh grade. I bet you didn’t even know that I wore glasses back then. Those glasses were awesome. The frames were a series of all different colored stripes with a silver thread between each stripe. My dad called them my “robe” of many colors. Pumpkin, you’ll be gorgeous in those glasses. You know Uncle Jon and Aunt Lea began wearing glasses before they were a year old.
Twitter: rookiewhitney
September 20, 2010 at 10:43 am
I don’t know how appropriate this is, since I’m drinking beer in this picture. But here it is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msmossy/4640657008/
I love my glasses, I could get Lasik but I would miss my glasses too much – http://www.flickr.com/photos/bklynhandspun/4976982728/
What an awesome mamma you are. I tweeted and on the photo hunt for your little one!
I don’t know that I qualify as a girl, but I’ve got the glasses!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25292326@N08/4119672045/in/set-72157604354105012/
I’ve worn glasses since I was 12, and chances are good that someday I’ll be going through this with both my son and my daughter, since my husband’s eyesight is worse than mine. But although I had the option for Lasik, I really do like my glasses too much to do it!
Been a “girl with glasses” for 22 years, save for a one year stint that I tried out contacts. Didn’t like ’em, went back to glasses.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arwenoid/sets/183017/
Maybe not the most helpful for a 5 yr old, but when I was a teenager they helped disguise a variety of obnoxious acne and bushy eyebrows that I didn’t quite know how to tame at the time. Hooray for glasses!
Girls with Glasses are the best!
http://epapaion.tumblr.com/post/1156879488/dear-pumpkin-after-years-of-not-wearing-my
Here’s my post about spreading the love! Also sent the photo to you via email.
http://keethink.com/blog/2010/09/20/girls-with-glasses/
Two cool chicks with glasses riding around in the Big Apple: http://www.rookiemoms.com/blogher-10-highlights-and-lowlights/ [http://www.rookiemoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_0014.jpg]
Oops, now that I read the comments I see that most of you posted pictures of yourselves as little gals. I didn’t get my glasses till I was a grownup, so I hope my grownup pic is OK!
Girls with Glasses are awesome! They always get to have that extra special accessory that is so darn cool! I’ve always been bummed that I don’t have glasses.
But my now 11 year old daughter has glasses. She got hers when she was only 3! Lucky girl! She’s been wearing them with pride ever since. When she gets home from school I’ll snap a photo of her cute face with her cute pink glasses. One of my best friends also has glasses and I remember when I met her I thought she was the coolest because she had bright purple frames for her glasses. When I found out later that she had three pairs of glasses with different amazing frames that she could wear with different outfits I knew we had to be friends. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with such a cool lady?
Wear your glasses with pride, sweetie. You’ll look great and they’ll help your eyes to feel great as well. 🙂
Aw I vividly remember the horror of being told I needed glasses in 7th grade! Wore contacts in high school, slowly switched over to glasses-only in college, and have loved rocking my awesome glasses for many years now!
here is a fun collage-y picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/-leethal-/4427050912/
and another, just for fun: http://www.flickr.com/photos/-leethal-/3242708540/
Oh dear! I’m a teacher with glasses- and I can assure you, if she’s the only one with glasses, she won’t be for long.
My 14 year old daughter was mad when her brother was told that he needed glasses, but she wasn’t/didn’t. She went out and bought fake ones because In highschool it is cool to wear glasses.
On Friday I posted a couple of pictures of myself with my cute new haircut & my new varifocals: http://yfrog.com/28s4gvj & http://yfrog.com/4bxciwj
I’ve been a girl in glasses for more than half my life now, I first got them at about 17 or 18 when my mother realised I couldn’t read road signs but I’m sure my eyesight must have been going for years. Certainly it was quite a revelation when I no longer had to squint to see the blackboard at school but I remember hating having to choose my first pair and feeling so self conscious. But these days I like wearing glasses – you can get such cute frames now and my face feels a bit naked without my glasses. Pumpkin will get used to it and when she’s older there are always contacts.
I got glasses just before I started school, and I was not happy about it. I got over it pretty quickly though. I don’t really remember being made fun of much, but some kids are jerks and will find any reason to make fun of someone. I think I was made fun of more for being in French Immersion, or having red hair 😛 I am 31 and will never get contacts. Glasses add personality. Plus there are so many cool styles for kids these days!
I was a young glasses wearer myself, so I understand the feeling! Blogged about my life with glasses and included a few photos. :o)
http://fiddleknits.blogspot.com/2010/09/girls-with-glasses-rock.html
Twitter: alimartell
September 20, 2010 at 1:56 pm
LOVE THIS.
I am a girl with glasses…sending a picture to you right now!
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