This post by Jennifer Flaten
I’ve worn glasses my entire life. Well, actually since 4th grade, but it feels like my whole life. There was a brief time BC (before children) when I wore contacts. Then I had children, children with small grubby fingers that they wanted to poke into my eyeballs—repeatedly.
Back to glasses it was. Besides, if you need to get up in the middle of the night to take of a screaming kid, you don’t want to spend 20mins putting your contacts in.
I remember getting my first pair of glasses, nothing about glasses in the 80s was cool. It wasn’t cool to wear them and there certainly weren’t any cool styles. At that time children’s glass had two choices, ugly and hideous. I reluctantly chose ugly.
To make matters worse, my best friend accused me of “copying” her, by getting glasses. True, she did get her glasses first, but certainly isn’t something I was eager to copy. Nope, not a fashion statement, just astigmatism.
At this year’s eye doctor appointment, I had a suspicion confirmed, I nee
d bifocals. Sigh. It seems unfair that after a lifetime of bad eyesight (I can’t see two feet in front of me without my glasses), it would get even WORSE. Yes, I did harbor the childish hope that I would NEVER EVER need bi-focals. It’s not that they make me feel old, although my mother cheerfully informed me that they did in fact, make me old. Ah, well at least I got a trendy pair.
Browse my jewelry on Etsy
Writing Wranglers and Warriors 
A joy I never had to endure, except in college for eye strain. Dang those bi-focals. Hang in there. Doris
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I can feel your pain Jennifer. I’ve worn bi-focals for a very long time and I felt exactly the same way you do when I had to get mine. Stay positive. You’ll get used to them and it’ll seem like you’ve always worn them. Besides, glasses styles are so trendy these days!
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And then there may be trifocals…. I finally got trifocals a number of years ago as I could see far and near, but the labels on the grocery shelves without moving in closer and tilting my head back. You look great in glasses. Neva
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I’m not a fan of wearing my glasses because I tend to lose them and find they’re all squashed out of recognition. When I was teaching I had a chain around my neck (a good joke that one 😉 ) …for my glasses, but I still managed to squash them. It’s only recently I’ve needed vari focals for driving and they are set for the distance element being correct adn for me reading the dashboard detail. I don’t need them for everyday vision so I don’t think I’m a contacts candidate.
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I’ve just gone back on multi focals. Because of the sort of short sight I have as soon as I start a lot of close up work my eyes get worse again. So the multifocal holds it better. I’ve been that since I was 12. I don’t look forward to needing to handle long sight as well!
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I got my first glasses in eighth grade, back in 1965. I knew I was in trouble in the seventh when I started having trouble seeing the chalk writing on blackboard, and often I was sitting toward the back of the classroom. I’ve never tried contacts. Just the idea of them makes me squeamish. Nowadays, instead of bifocals, I use the lenses that are, I think, called progressives. Still, I sometimes have to take them off to read really small writing, like on the back of baseball cards (which I collect; shush, don’t tell anyone).
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I’ve needed eye correction since 5th grade. Went from glasses to contact lenses at age 20 and now use reading glasses when doing close-up work with the contacts. My glasses prescript needs re-adjusting as it’s old — Happy birthday to me! (I turn 55 in March and I guess I’d best get that job done and other with!)
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You are only as old as you feel. Some days I am 85 others 15.
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