A fashion accessory with a little focus
He looked at me with newly bespectacled brown eyes and a huge
grin.

I look a lot smarter, now, right Mom?

The Boy asked happily.
A fashion accessory with a little focus

He looked at me with newly bespectacled brown eyes and a huge grin.

“I look a lot smarter, now, right Mom?” The Boy asked happily.

In true Sinon style, The Boy’s latest fashion accessory is one he’ll have for life. They may vary with the times. One season, they may have wire frames or the next, solid Buddy Holly black or maybe they will disappear altogether to be replaced with contacts.

The Boy is nine years old and joins the ranks of the glasses-wearing masses that are The Husband’s side of the family.

Being a mom, I was concerned that he might have some sort of adjustment period and that he might feel compelled to wield his finely honed Tae Kwon Do skills, resulting in a trip to the principal’s office and a call to my desk at work. I shouldn’t have worried. Seeing him with his new and improved eyes had reminded me of a parent/teacher correspondence I’d had a couple of years ago.

His long-suffering first grade teacher had seen it all, I was sure. But then along came The Boy.

Being chastised for messy handwriting and a short attention span had apparently opened his eyes, so to speak. His teacher had e-mailed me to tell me how much The Boy’s work had improved and how much his attention span had lengthened now that he could see, with his new glasses. And how astute The Husband and I were to realize that his vision had been the problem all along.

I had only recently noticed that the stuffed military rabbit from Build-A-Bear, in The Husband’s likeness had lost his small pair of glasses. He sat in a basket on the floor by my dresser, in a complete military uniform, including dog (or rabbit, in this case) tags and boots but now sans brown, thick-framed military issue glasses. I didn’t think much of it. They probably fell off when I was vacuuming and wound up under the dresser. I just hadn’t had time to look for them.

I almost didn’t have the heart to tell The Teacher that he had pilfered a stuffed toy’s glasses and even worse yet, that The Husband and I were not really all that astute.

The Teacher and The Parents decided that we would allow The Boy to continue to wear the tiny, non-functioning eyewear. For some reason, they gave him a focus he didn’t have before and a confidence to check his work and take his time. She said, though, that she had thought they looked just a little small for him, but thought it was funny now that she knew the toy glasses did kind of fit.

For weeks, The Boy would wear the glasses in class, but was careful to keep them secured in his backpack while he was at home. To him, The Parents were none the wiser.

The glasses finally outlived their attraction or his head just grew too big. They stopped making an appearance at school and I never did see them on The Rabbit again. His writing returned to its natural way and his attention span returned to Boy Normal. It was a nice ride while it lasted.

Now, two years later, as I am looking over The Boy’s shoulder as he does homework, I can see a legitimate improvement as he writes, ironically.

So, yes, my dear. You look every bit as smart as you are.

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A staff member wrote, edited or posted this article, which may include information provided by one or more third parties.

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