Daniel got his glasses today. The poor little mite is +5 and he must have been blind as a bat. I’ve looked through the lenses and it’s pretty blurry. He finds patterns alarming with his glasses and, if there is a change of pattern underfoot, he is reluctant to walk on it. This is unfortunate given that Brussels is heavy on cobblestones.
He has been very, very good about wearing them all day long and not taking them off. I am not sure whether this is because he is a good child or because he likes being able to see. Tonight when we took them off, his ears were all pink. Does anyone know, is this normal? It didn’t seem to bother him. But again, he may feel that it is the price he pays to see.
NaBloPoMo – J is not a good letter.
J is for Henry James whom I am never going to read because I gather he is all about inner agonising and “The Line of Beauty” by Alan Hollinghurst is Jamesian. And, with all due respect to C (who recommends) and the Booker jury, I found it tortuous. Go on, convince me on Henry James.J is also for Joyce; “Dubliners” is fine but everything else is too hard. J is also for Erica Jong who, I would submit, has not aged gracefully. In fact, the only J which inspires even mild enthusiasm is Jerome K. Jerome and I wouldn’t exactly put “Three Men in a Boat” in my top ten. Slim pickings, people. Any suggestions?
poor sweetie. i had glasses starting in kindergarten and that was tough enough. just wait til he acclimates himself to them! he’ll be unstoppable!
Harking back to F – were there no ‘Hornblower’ books in your parent’s house? And REGINALD HILL is not only a great writer of detective ficton, but a great writer; his book which had a description of the trench warfare moved me immesurably
sorry, that should be parents’
I didn’t get glasses ’til I was 18, though I probably needed them 5 years before that. The first day I had them was quite strange. I kept tripping over stairs & the pattern on the carpet, as I had an altered view of the world. The other thing that was a big WOW! was that trees had individual leaves & weren’t just green blobby mush clouds on the top of brown pillars. I’d suggest Daniel has probably got something like that happening to him at the moment. He’s only just learned to see & his view of the world has changed dramatically by the sound of things. I was old enough to rationalise it & enjoy the effect. It’s probably freaking him out a bit, as he maybe doesn’t have the comprehension yet to explain it to himself.*
With regard to his pink ears. Do you mean across the top where the stems go? That could just be irritation from having something rubbing all day. The other thing to look out for is that he’s not allergic to the metal of the frames. I know some people can be, The tops of my ears have toughened up after nearly 25 years of wearing specs, but a new pair can still cause a bit of gyp for the first couple of days before they bed in to the shape of my head etc.
Finally. ‘J’ authors. Tove Jansson of course. She wrote the books about the Moomintrolls. If you don’t know them seek them out & buy them. You’ll love reading them & in a few years time you’ll love reading them to the kids. They’ll love you for reading them to them and should then want to read them for themselves a bit after that.
As for ‘K’ Clive King – Stig of the Dump. The same things that are true about the Moomin books hold true for that.
*The best way I can put it into words I’m afraid. This is not intended as a slight on the intellectual ability of your spec’ wearing son 🙂
Oh yes, Moomintroll … In fact everything that Cha0tic said. For me the real eye-opener was the stars. Amazing. I also find that when I get a new prescription for my glasses everything seems curved for a while and I’m reluctant to put cups and things down on the edge of tables in case they fall off & that may also be throwing Daniel off. It takes about a week for the brain to learn to correct what the eyes are seeing.
Tove Jansson also wrote a couple of books for adults (The summer book?) which I’ve been meaning to read for ages so if reading or re-reading children’s books is not your bag then you could try those.
You might want to take him back to the optometrist just to make sure that the fit of the frame is good – especially as he’s a child and might not be as specific about the frames bothering him. They can have a quick look and let you know if the frames need adjustment. Sometimes it takes several adjustments to get a good fit.
Joyce is definitely more readable than just Dubliners. Portrait of the Artist is good and Ulysses just needs perseverance
My 4 year old just got glasses a few months ago. His redness was on the bridge of his nose but soon subsided. The glasses also loosened a bit too (he can be a bit rough with them). He actually kicked up more of a fuss when we went to get them tightened last week. We had to bend the curve of the arm a bit as he was complaining so much. NOw, 2 months after he got them he hardly realises he has them on – and he looks more ‘like him’ now with them on than off (does that make any sense?)