I come from a family of people where glasses, glaucoma, blindness, color blindness, cataracts, and eye surgeries are reality. To say that my biggest fear is an eye injury or going blind is an understatement. In my mind, eyesight equals freedom. I see color quite vividly, even though I'm severely nearsighted and most of my memories are remembered through the color of my surroundings over how I felt when I experienced them. Visual messages are important to how I interpret the world and I try to make sure I take care of my eyes as best as I can, since genetics have dealt me an interesting deck of visual cards. I've worn glasses for as long as I could remember. I remember my first pair being red plastic rimmed glasses, with Lucy from the Peanuts engraved on the side arms near the joints. They were awesome but I remember not wanting to wear them, being called "four eyes" is no fun no matter how stylish your specs are.
Moving into middle and high school wire frame glasses were all the rage in the 90s but our insurance at the time allowed for only plastic rims. Still expensive but outdated, I used to dream of the day when I would be able to afford my own glasses. I had plans for my style when I was all grown up. Funny enough I now buy the same large plastic (hipster) frames I wore as a kid and was made fun of for. Funny how fashion changes. For me, contacts were never an option. I hate touching my eyes. As a child I recall my father wearing the glass contact lenses. I'd imagine what would happen if they shattered... it freaked me out. Being an athlete and being relatively blind was not a great combination. From middle school through college I played "blind". I recall feeling my way around the volleyball and basketball courts. I used my spacial awareness and developed my peripheral vision to a point where I earned double digit assists, steals, and points in many games. Yeh I could've worn rec specs and at times I wore a glasses strap on my plastic frames during games, but it got glasses fog up and they jostle around on the bridge of your nose, so lame. I left my glasses in my locker during games and practices. Playing "blind" was my best choice, though once again I'd fantasize about how much better I would've been had I been able to see.
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It's really important to provide "organic" experiences by taking your child places that will stimulate their 5 senses.
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