Why I’m Giving Into the Contacts for my 10 year old

My Alex has been BEGGING me for contacts for over a year now. And when I say begging, I mean – BEGGING. I’ve held a firm no. My patent answer throughout the year has been, “You can when you’re a little older.” That answer hasn’t really sufficed for Alex. He’s kept asking and asking and asking. My “mom” thought process has been, he’s only 10 years old, he’s got all the time in the world. Also – in fairness to myself – I didn’t want to invest in contacts for Alex and have him not take care of them. That’s always been a big worry for me. He’s breaks his glasses almost on a monthly basis, if it wasn’t for the extra insurance plan at our optical place, we would be paying an arm and a leg each month on them. Thankfully it’s only $25 to repair them (which we started taking from Alex’s own money to teach him).

This past week I took Alex in for his routine annual eye exam.

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I told him that we would talk to his eye doctor and get her opinion.  His exam was pretty routine, Alex always gets a little extra time because his sight is so bad, they really like to make sure his eyes have remained the same and that nothing has gotten any worse. Fortunately – his sight has remained the same. Alex is farsighted and has an astigmatism, so seeing without any intervention is just no in his cards.

The 3 big reasons why I wanted to open up the conversation to his doctor about contacts were:

  1. He’s an athlete, so when he’s swimming or playing baseball or basketball, he’s glasses get in the way. He’s a catcher on his baseball team and even sports glasses don’t hit under the helmet! He can’t see the ball flying at him!
  2. His glasses do bother him. Even though he’s used to them, I always see him taking them off for a little breather. Makes me feel bad because I’m the same way with my sunglasses, and that’s just when I’m outside!
  3. He’s accepted the fact that he needs glasses to see. Alex never complained once when we first found out 4 years ago. He goes for his exams and he gets the needed adjustments, all without a hesitation. When the contact conversation came up, I felt bad because – for him – he really feels this will be an easier way of life for him.

As soon as I asked our doctor about the contacts she nodded her head and said, “absolutely!”

I wasn’t expecting that answer so quickly.

She actually told me something that I wasn’t aware of with his glasses. She said that when Alex has his glasses on, he doesn’t have great peripheral vision. Nobody had ever told me that before! She said Alex is a great candidate for contacts as long as he takes care of them.

She mentioned that there were 3 things Alex needed to make sure he did with contacts:

  1. Take them out every single night.
  2. Clean them extra well.
  3. Always put them back in the case when they’re out.

We’re heading back next week for a trial and we’ll see how it goes!

OK… contacts, you caved me. Fingers crossed it goes well, I haven’t seen my Alex without glasses in years!

 

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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