My second daughter wears glasses. She was diagnosed with astigmatism just before the end of her reception year in school. It was picked up through a routine school nurse check that happened at the beginning of the year. I have no idea why it took the best part of a year to find out but then there’s nothing like the slow turning wheels of the NHS. 😉
Anyhow she had to be referred for tests at the local children hospital and I obviously went with her this time, whereas the school checks had been done without either me or her dad present. The initial test, reading the shapes, with both her eyes uncovered she rocked it..all the way down to the little house, square and circle..even i struggled to make them out.
Then the nurse covered what we now know as her unaffected eye and i watched her struggle with the first couple of lines and then give up. I felt gutted for her, gutted that she couldn’t see, gutted that we hadn’t noticed and gutted what this meant for her in the future.
I remember spluttering my excuses out to the nurse, ‘we have never noticed anything!’ “she doesn’t ever do anything that would make you think she can’t see!’ To which, the nurse, probably well used to this sort of pleading parental guilt coming her way just smiled at me and said ‘ wait and see what the Doctor says’
It turned out that her vision in one eye is so good that she was totally over-compensating with that eye and so that is why we had noticed nothing. *phew* 😉
She now wears glasses all the time and she has been incredible about wearing them, which given the sort of um…..independent character she has….is pretty remarkable that she has toed the line. But her eyes, with her glasses on, now have the same ability and she can read all the way down to the tiniest symbols with both eyes.
Her older sister was pretty jealous of her glasses and wanted to see if she needed them too…she even has a pair of fashion ones and i think, still yearns after the pretty glasses her sister has. We even had quite a lot of pouting and ‘its NOT FAIR!” type comments from her when her sister first got the glasses. Last week on half term we were talking about my niece who doesn’t need glasses but is wearing fashion ones all the time and my daughter who doesn’t wear glasses was nodding in agreement with how lovely they are and pretty and trendy…etc etc..
So I asked my daughter who wears glasses ‘do you think wearing glasses is fun?’
she thought for a while and said ‘No because i have to be careful and not break them and i loose them all the time and people can hurt me if they bump into me!’
Funny how just a little different perspective can change your attitude…
isnt it?
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Things are so different….when i was a child my glasses were those horrible pink NHS ones and i hated them. (Also had sticky out teeth ad ginger hair-it wasn’t a good look…). Glasses these days are so cool and trendy that my life would have felt so different to me.
I was lucky enough to get contacts at 13 and have worn them ever since. Blind as a bat, can’t even read the big letter at the top of the chart!
I think her glasses really suit her x
having children has made me a lot more patient x.
working where I do has made me see alot of people need help that don’t get it.
Understand my familys wants and needs have made me less selfish xx.
never judge a person till you know them.
One of my closest and most trusted friends was someone I actively disliked on first meeting as I thought he was arrogant. This made me realise that you don’t have to hit if off first time for someone to be on your wavelenth.
Sorry hectic week here. It’s good that they do these routine check ups isn’t it. She is so very pretty and glasses do suit her.
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My little boy has had glasses from age 2 and a half – was really upset at first as (obviously as his Mum) I thought he had such a beautiful face), but now he just doesn’t look right without them!
Liking people straight away – like a few of my ex friends and finding out they are actually selfish good for nothings who aren’t willing to make the effort. Shows I have a bad judge of character sometimes so need to be more wary..
I have learnt to not expect to be perfect – it puts too much pressure on you
having children and the loss of my own parents at an early age has made me look on life different, live for today.
I travelled alone for a couple of months and it changed my perspective on how reliant we are on technology. I learnt I can manage without it and I can manage alone.
having my little girl has made me more understanding
Having children myself now I understand why people turn all mushy around them
i definitely feel calmer when thinking about a situation in which i would find totally overwhelming before having a different perspective!
not to judhe a book by its cover.
Being a foster carer opened my eyes not only to the amount of abuse that goes on but how to work with abused and abusers.
My mum is going deaf now due to a faulty DNA and although she has an hearing aid she is unable to tell the direction of the sound to sense its location or certain sounds when its noisy. It has made me appreciate that I am very lucky to have all 5 senses and in perfect working order too. It has definitely helped me appreciate the sounds around me whether it is the birds flying by to the food sizzling in my pan. Its sad that my mum cannot cope in busy social situations because her hearing aid gives her a headache with all the sound around her which leaves her the only option to be deaf.
I always try to “put myself in the other persons shoes”. It’s amazing what you can solve
I’ve become a better parent
having a life threatening illness really changed my perspective on life and made me a much more openminded and forgiving person. I don`t sweat the small stuff anymore and I try to see things from other peoples viewpoints x.
i’d never really had any experiences with autistic people before I met my friend chris and was a bit wary when I first met him but he has turned into a fantastic friend and is one of the most intelligent, funny people I’ve met! Certainly changed my perspective on autism
Becoming a mum had made be learn to put others first.
I was very interested to read your blog on child getting glasses as I went through exactly the same with my son 10 years ago. Guilty thoughts about not noticing, to eventually wondering why I didn’t notice as he bumped into things a lot. He could only read the first line of letters (which was one letter!) with his “bad” eye. As he was my first child, I had these first-time-mother feelings of my child isn’t “perfect”. When he went into Nursery with his new glasses, his teacher said what a lucky little boy he was getting to wear glasses like his daddy, and I realised how silly I was being. Thank goodness glasses is the only health issue we have had to contend with.
I volunteer in school, have done for nearly two years. It made me realise there is a lot more to a “naughty” child sometimes. There are sometimes reasons behind their behaviour and its very rewarding helping them.
Almost losing my Mum last year has made me realise what is actually important in life.
I think that having a positive attitude can change the way you feel about everything in life! If you play down the negative stuff and don’t dwell on it, and try to appreciate the good in everything, it can become a way of life.
having had 4 miscarriages I now see that mothers day can be very hard for a lot of people.
Caring for my mother-in-law who became bed-ridden & developed dementia, made me start to appreciate the small things in life – like the one, lonely daffodil braving the last of the winter snow to present it’s smiling face in the garden
DEFINITELY BECOMING A PARENT & SEEING THINGS FROM MY MUM’S VIEW, MAKES YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WOULDN’T LET YOU OUT TIL MIDNIGHT ON YOUR OWN AT 15 LOL.
Having my 2 boys changed me for the better. I’m a lot more of a calmer person now,have more patience. And I try to enjoy my life more than I ever did because my kids make life seem so worth while
moving out on my own made me realise how hard running a household is
Having children changes everything its definately made me far more patient and laid back.
I live in a small village and there have been a number of people having life-changing accidents recently. It’s really made me see how precious life is and how you have to enjoy each and every day and live life to the best of your ability, as it is so fragile. I am so lucky to have my family and my health and that’s far more important than stupid “stuff”.
Now I am retired I can talk to ex-colleagues in a more sympathetic way – I have time to listen to their work-related problems and I really understand what they are going through. I can see that I was extremely focussed when I worked and had no social life. I am now getting to know my ex-colleagues in a social setting and it’s good to relax!
I’ve been blessed with a job that changed my perspective greatly. Until recently I was a gynae nurse and a midwife. I got to see women and babies right at the start and right at the end of their, often all too short, lives. When you’ve helped women in their 30s write goodbye letters to their children, assisted women through the most joyous experience of meeting their new baby and occasionally watched them have to let go after only moments you never look at anything the same again.
Being a Mum has made me realize how inportant protecting the planet for the future really is.
Seeing my brother and his wife try so hard to conceive through IVF, only for them to lose their baby at 20 weeks has really made me appreciate my children.
Arrrggghhh teenagers and designer glasses, contact lenses next too. 🙁
having my boys made me realise that I have far more patience than I thought and they have made me a stronger person!
It does not matter what people look like its what’s inside that matters
I had not realised prior to my social policy degree just how influenced people are by what they read. Since studying a number of perspectives around socialogy I have come to believe that people are very much conduced to follow the masses when a moral panic is initiated; prior to this I believed that the influence of the media was very limited.
Because of the knowledge I have gained I find myself challenging people (in a friendly manor of course) about misconceptions around immigration and the welfare state on a weekly basis. It is quite facinating and scary to hear people state opinions derived from the daily mail as if they were hard facts, when a five minute search of a reputable journal, with valid research and data, indicates otherwise.
caring for someone with permanent long-term health condition really makes you realise how the trivial things don’t matter.
During the past year I have been really suffering with the cold, I am cold all the time and my knees hurt when it’s cold.I keep thinking about how horrible it would be if I didn’t have a nice warm house to live in and it’s made me feel even more for homeless people.
Around two years ago I was diagnosed with a condition that not only affects not only my health but possibly also my life span. Up until then I was living my life as if by rote. It was as if I was following a set of perfectly laid out plans that I was following unquestioningly. After my diagnosis I realised that life is about being happy (as opposed to doing what society says will make you happy). My new perspective means that I do things because I love to do them and I really appreciate my life much more. 🙂
After recovering from breast cancer i realise more how precious life is and family and friends are far more important than material possessions
great prize
twitter name mike00028
Looking at things through other peoples eyes, when in a difficult or frustrating situation.
Getting a second opinion can often help, when you see things one way it can be difficult to see all the angles by talking it out with somelse you can often realise not everything is black and white.
Watching Dave fish wick bank of Dave has changed my attitude about banks and people. Didn’t realise that such great people existed.
I was one of those ‘what they parking in the disabled bay for’ idiots querying someone who looked fine who had the audacity to park next to door at Asda…now I’ve been diagnosed with Meniere’s disease; a balance disorder & hearing loss which is not a visually noticeable disability. I now hate the people who judge me and give me looks for needing extra assistance on occasion…. I am embarrassed to say that was the person I used to be. Never judge a book!
Jenifer xxx
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Having my son really changed my perspective on life and on the world in general.
Before having my little boy I was a perfectionist who had lists about having lists. Now I have leart to be more relaxed and go with the flow and am much happier for it.
Becoming disabled age 19 with a ‘hidden’ illness. What I have is very debilitating and I am very ill, 80% of the time, but if you look at me you would think I was fine. Dealing with the ignorance on a constant basis from people, and hate as I cannot work has changed my perspective on how I view people and how you can never see their inner battles. I’ve always treated people with respect but now I’m even more careful when I speak to people as you have no idea what they may have been through.
I’ve learnt that “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” applies to the emotional stuff too…
Getting older yourself makes you understand where your parents stood all those years ago and you couldn’t understand or appreciate the problems they had. Now I have the same problems and I think ‘Oh yes, that is how it was’. Too late, though, they have gone.
a close member of my family has an eating disorder and has been sectioned on and off over the last few years-it really gives you a whole new perspective of the meaning of food in your life.
I always used to lead a lazier lifestyle – preferring reading and the internet to more physical activities, such as walking, getting outdoors and keeping fit.
However, since getting our pet dog, am walking him every day; we go across the fields, through woodlands, and walk along canal and river banks.
It’s fabulous!
We’re walking between 2 and 3 miles each day now, and Barney (my dog) and I are becoming really fit and feeling much healthier.
My perspective on the perfect way to relax has definitely changed for the better.
I’ve always been very lucky with my health but since becoming pregnant I have bad mobility problems so I now realise what it is like to be in pain all the time and unable to do things I took for granted before.
my health, when I was younger I believed I was invinible, life long illnesses happened to other people, ten I was struck down with M.E at the age of 30 and its robbed me of most aspects of my life, I have a rediculously limited diet, am registered disabled , cant drive myself further than our town centre, cant even take my kids to the park. It has been very humbling, and made me realise how much I took for granted, I never thought id see the day I envied people who could walk round a supermarket!
My mum is pregnant and what she can do and can’t do and eat and can’t eat has made me realised that many people can’t do simple things because of so many different reasons 🙂
As a young person I went out a lot. I went to visit my gran who lived near a club and heard loud music. It really made me feel for people who lived near clubs.
Growing up & living with a life threatening muscle wasting disease has made me realise what is important in life and not to take anything for granted 🙂
I used to think that only brainy and clever people wore glasses but now I wear them. lol
Now that my kids have grown up and left home, I realize just how quickly time flies and really wish that I had done lots of things differently! Even though it is sometimes a struggle raising a family, it is so hard when they leave home knowing that time has gone forever. Every moment should be cherished because it goes too fast!
You only live once.
I used to eat a lot of processed food but since detoxing feel much better and don’t think I will go back to it
Not everything is black and white, so dont judge a situation when you dont know all the circumstances 🙂
Bring up kids has totally changed my perspective on my own childhood. Found a new sense of respect for my own parents.
Puppy ownership – from outside eyes it all looks so simple, when you get one, OMG, it’s like having a child: sleepless nights, mess, tellings off, socialising, lol.
Having a baby. All of a sudden I see why friends of mine with children used to be late for things as baby was napping. I used to think ‘for goodness sake, it’s only a baby – wake it!’ Having my own has clearly opened my eyes to how a baby changes your life. And no, I wouldn’t now wake my baby once finally asleep!
I think having children changes your perspective of everything, far too many things to even contemplate listing. It’s an eye opener for sure.
having kids has made me appreciate my parents more.
Being a mum has changed my perspective on life. I left my alcohol fuelled partying ways behind and now eat healthier, exercise more and even recycle.
Having children makes you much more aware of your own behaviour.
I’ve learnt to accept people for who they are after hearing rumours about people you can never judge until you meet them learn their ways and personality, everyone is so different.
Becoming a mother has changed my thoughts on how I treated my mother as a teenager. I know how horrible I was when I was a teenager.
taking simple communication for granted was put into perspective for me when I had my youngest son , and I now no longer take simple things fr granted , my son is 5 and has verbal dyspraxia making communication difficult ,
having a chronic illness has changed my outlook in life, I don’t take things for granted anymore and also I realise how important my family really is, and I’m trying to improve their lives as much as i can.
Having my wee daughter makes me see life in a totally different way and realise that life doesn’t just revolve around me.
I’ve been a student, now i’m a teacher and i’m also a student again. So I can see both sides of the coin. I also teach Health and Social Care but have a chronic disability and have been a patient so again, I can now see both perspectives, which is actually quite useful
I never thought about how I would feel when my kids left home. Now only my youngest is here and I make sure I tell her everyday how much I enjoy her company. I only wish I had stopped tidying and moaning long enough to really appreciate the time I had with the other 3 before they became independent adults. Now I treasure every minute I have with them when they visit. I’m not lonely – I just really like my kids.
Having a child made me realise just how precious and short life is.
Being diagnosed with an incurable illness really makes you appreciate the things you CAN do, no matter how small. It also makes you realise just how much you take your health for granted – people say health is more important than money and they are so right.
Placing carers with the elderly, vulnerable and terminally ill for a living – it’s so rewarding and makes you really appreciate every little thing in life 🙂
Having children definitely changes your outlook. You go from putting your OH and yourself first, to finding that little people are more important to you than your own wishes.
Another one for having children – everything changed then. I even became afraid of heights! I now see things like slides as dangerous rather than ‘fun’. It’s a big change in thinking x.
Having suffered PTSD for many years (and now recovering well) I can finally see how unreasonable I was and how actually, life is pretty damn good! I like to think I have more of an understanding peoples actions now, I am much more forgiving.
being ill and off work for a year made me appreciate being at home.
Wearing glasses certainly isn’t fun and it gets me why would anybody want to wear them as a fashion accessory. You need to always see things for what they are rather than just look at the surface.
When you get older you see more dangers with everyday things although when younger you think your invincible x
Now I have children of my own, I can imagine how hard it
must have been for my mum, with 2 small children, it made me realise and appreciate all she has ever done for me.
I think your perspective changes all the time especially when you challenge certain ideas and beliefs. I have learnt not to judge a book by its cover and as i get older i become more accepting of certain situations.
Having my children made me see what true love really is
Having my little boy has changed my perspective on lots, I automaticlly put myself second and it breaks my heart when other parents put themselves before their own children. My perspective on time has changed also, as a teen I would lay in bed until 12pm and not think anymore of it, however now not only am I urged to wake at 7:00am by a toddler who is eager to watch Postmand Pat, I also don’t want to miss a second of my little boy. I sometimes feel as though ive blinked and he has grown up before my eyes. Time is precious and we should enjoy every second.
Having my baby has changed my perspective a lot. I know understand that having the house immaculate just isn’t that important – so long as we are clean of course! My baby needs me, my love and attention more than those dishes in the sink!
I volunteer in a Hospice – this simple role has taught me how life precious is and that you really should look for the positives, work out what is important and make time to do the little things that really matter.
Having my family reminds me whats more important, I have a stressful job and come home tired and often with headaches, so trying not to bring the troubles home with me, forgetting the woes at work
My perspective changed after having kids
Growing up in a big family, I always craved privacy and wanted to live alone. Having lived alone for two years, I couldn’t wait to get back to the bosom of my family
My mum had several years of serious illnesses and hospital stays, including being in a coma for a while. Shes passed away now, but during that time I realised that, no matter how bad a day may be, try and find something to smile about everyday, things could always be worse. Since losing my mum how I feel about my family has changed too. They can be ripped away from you in an instant, so I never want to be on bad terms with my family, if there is ever an argument of some sort, I sort it out a quick as poss as I just don’t want bad feelings between any of us. Family is what matters to me, so talking everyday and having a laugh is so important.
Becoming a mum. I fell pregnant at 19, gave birth at 20 so I was relatively young and was the type of person who would grunt and moan at a crying baby in a shop, restaurant etc. I never thought I could change a dirty nappy but now I’m a pro. I definitely see things differently. Even watching the news makes me feel differently.
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When I was in fairly good health I use to be such a busy bee with work & socialising that I never spent any time with my parents in my eyes I was leading my life & wanted fun and my parents didn’t have ‘fun’. However when I came very ill I had to move back into my parents home & I don’t have much of social life & can not work anymore but spending time with my parents has shown me how much fun they really are & that my mum is my best friend.
Rember to smile
When my step dad died unexpectedly – it made me realise live each day as your last.
Having two children has changed my perspective in everything! I have learned so much. I have also learnt that being on time like I used to is a NO No now 😉 xx.
having children changed me hugely, I was a very shy timid person who would agree with people and do things for a quiet life. Having my children made me much more confident and able to say what I thought and felt, I think this was because if I didnt stand up for my children who would? this confidence enabled me to have the belief that I could do my dream job so I applied for and qualified as a midwife
having kids as certainly changed my perspective on life as a whole…but i love every minute of being a parent and wouldnt change it for anything 🙂
Working with asylum seekers and refugees has made me realise just how good we have it in the west.
visiting my daughters university changed my view on students, I actually like them now lol.
My perspective has changed alot since leaving home and seeing how tough it is to run a household.
The prospect of becoming a nana for the first time has made me look at things from a different perspective. I am now trying to guide my daughter into taking a more adult attitude in preparation for becoming a mum.
being at work. I have to constantly adapt to my settings
A range of friends from different ethnic backgrounds & walks of life has increased my own knowledge & tolerance in this hectic world we all live in x.
finding out i had extreamly high cholesterol levels kick started a healthier diet and lifestyle taking daily walks.
my levels are now much lower and i feel so much happier and healthier
My daughter had a similar problem and we went through the process of putting a patch over the good eye to encourage the other eye to work more. It was not a lazy eye but it was worth trying (so we were told). She had to have glasses at a young age and this was not a problem but when she got older she began to hate them until eventually we were advised that actually a single contact lens would be better as it would sit direct on the eye. Again, how things change in the space of a few years!