A Visit to the Optometrist

One of the things I love about being a Mum is sharing a first experience with my kids. And today it was a visit to the Optometrist. It's something they have both been begging to do because one of their favourite little programs, Charlie and Lola, shows Lola going to the Optician (UK based program). And Lola has to wear glasses! Lucky Lola!

And I have noticed my youngest has been squinting and blinking whenever she is front of a screen, which is exactly what I did when I was young and I eventually was given glasses at 6 yrs of age. So, I thought perhaps there is "an issue" in our family, so I took both girls along.

They were so excited, so our compliance with the set tasks were at 100%. Chins in the right position, eyes open when they were meant to. Although it was a bit hard when Emily the Optician approached my little ones eye with a big light and told her to look at me on the other side of the room. How can you NOT look at the light coming at you, like a crocodile being hunted in the water! A few prompts, like watch Mum pull a funny face, helped keep her eye on me and not the light.

My favourite part of the test was the picture identification part. A row of animals were displayed on the wall, reducing in size as the lines went down. It was like this ...

When we got to the two bottom lines, suddenly a KangaWOO appeared! What? None of us in the room could see a kangawoo (or a kangaroo)! Yep, there it was again ... a Kangawoo! She was consistent, every time the DOG came onto the screen, she claimed it was a kangawoo! So in fact, there was no issue with her eyes, she saw the image as she saw it, and to her, it WAS a kangawoo! Each and every time! 10/10 vision for both my girls, I'm happy about that. They still want glasses .....

Have you taken your kids to the Optometrist yet? How did they go? Apparently, all kids should be tested early.