My daughter sat watching an episode of Goldie & Bear on the Disney Jr. Channel. It was The Clubhouse that Jack Built episode and Bear joined the "Jack's Club". Goldie was excluded because her name wasn't Jack, obviously. I'll explain why I brought this up, I promise, just keep reading.

My daughter recently had her five year check up at the doctors office. They suggested I make an appointment with the Optometrist to get her eyes checked because she struggled a little during the appointment. We set the appointment to go in for the detailed examination. I prepped EJ and told her that it's supposed to be fun. I told her what to expect and to have fun and answer the questions as best she could. As I was writing this, I found a great entry by Four Little Eyes that talks about how to prepare for your child's first eye exam.

EJ struggled with the letters. They were fuzzy to her and when the doctor asked, "Can you read the letters to me" she responded, "Well, they're a little small." I tried not to let her hear me chuckle because she's so cute when she says matter-of-fact things like that. The doctor asked her to "try your best" and when EJ started reading the "D" became an "O", The "R" looked like an "A" and so on. It was determined that she has Astigmatism (which I knew nothing about) and she is farsighted. Time for glasses!

As a mother I started to worry. How is she going to handle this? Is she going to be upset? Is she going to be embarrassed? Will this affect her confidence? My daughter looked over to me and I smiled. I blurted out, "You get to have glasses just like Mya and Brandon in your class!" Excitement rushed over her face and she grinned from ear to ear. I sighed with relief that she was happy and the doctor quickly made a comment that, "you need to make sure NOT to share glasses though...NO trading."

We headed out to start trying on frames. Of course I liked the designer RayBans and of course they were the most expensive. I even thought EJ would love them because they had pink on the inside and on the sides. She wasn't sold and ended up picking a pair that ended up not working out because the ear pieces were way too long for her little head. Back to the wall of frames we went and I thought for sure my favorite pair would be chosen. Nope. Instead she chose a simple pair that was entirely covered by insurance (SCORE!) and Daddy was going to love that!

At school she told all her friends she was getting glasses! At pick up one of EJ's best friends, Palmer, asked me, "What is the glasses club?" We talked a little as her mom stood behind her and I explained that EJ couldn't see very well. I told Palmer that EJ was going to have glasses like some of the other kids in the class. Palmer told me that she can read just fine and I smiled. I love how confident you are when you are five years old.

When EJ was in the car and we were on our drive home I asked her about the "Glasses Club". She told me that it's a club and you have to wear glasses to be in it. We discussed how some of the other kids might get their feelings hurt if they can't be in the club. Together we decided to rename the club to the "Friends Club" where everyone can be a member and no one is excluded. After talking about things and even referencing the "Jack's Club" episode we just felt that leaving a friend out from a club because of wearing glasses or not wearing glasses wasn't the best idea. These kids are in still only in preschool. I love that EJ was excited and wanted to start a club, but I don't want it to turn into something negative that backfires on her.