Four eyes are better than two

Genetics: you can't escape it. Eat the right foods, get a lot of exercise, avoid bad habits. If everyone in your immediate family tree has high cholesterol / high blood pressure / heart disease / etc., there's only so much you can do.

Exhibit A: Caroline officially needs glasses. 

She mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she couldn't see the board in school, so I told her we'd get her in to see the optometrist during the Thanksgiving week break. Daddy managed to get her an appointment today, so off to the doctor we went.

I remember pretty clearly the sentence handed down from the school nurse when I was in 3rd grade. The fact that I had to get up from my desk and sit on the floor about three feet from the blackboard every day never connected in my little eight year old brain with the fact that I might need glasses. And once told after the school screening, I certainly wasn't excited about getting glasses. 

Note another point of difference between me and my daughter. She has been positively elated about the possibility of getting glasses. I think she sees them more as a fashion accessory than anything, and honestly, I'm grateful for that. Of course, it helps that they are more of a fashion accessory now. If I had a picture of myself in the horrifying Army-issue-esque glasses that I got in 3rd grade, you would agree that my reluctance was justified. 

I know that Walmart isn't exactly a hotbed of fashion, but the selection of kids' frames was pretty good. Grown ups want Michael Kors, Coach, Ray-bans, etc. Kids, on the other hand, apparently want Nickelodeon, Barbie, Fisher Price or Hello Kitty. Or if you're Caroline, you want "small pink glasses, please."

This is the part where the lucky parents get to high five because said small, pink glasses are in the low to mid price range. Sweet. 

The only disappointment of the day came with the pronouncement that Caroline's glasses will be ready... Next week. Eight or nine whole days of waiting. When you're only eight years old, that's an eteeeeeernityyyyyyyyy. At least it postponed the tortuous decision of which glasses case to buy. 

Fashion accessory, remember?