Monkey recently got tested at school for her eyes and ears. Her hearing is fine, but she needs glasses. I knew this day would come for one or both of the kids eventually. Bear and I both wear glasses. Most of my family (immediate and extended) wear them, and a couple on Bear’s side do too.
After receiving this news, I posted on Facebook that she needs glasses. To me, not a big deal. I post lots of stuff about the kids on there. A couple of weeks after I posted that, Monkey came in to talk to me in tears. “Why did you tell all your friends I need glasses?!” I told her that I did not think it was that big of a deal. She continued to cry because she felt like by telling my friends that she needs glasses, that I was somehow making fun of her. I told her all the people I knew that wear glasses. Friends and family alike. We also talked about people she knew in school (all different ages) that wear glasses. She started to calm down when I remembered something my mom and I talked about a few days before.
My mom recommended that I make up stories about princesses needing to wear glasses. Monkey LOVES princesses and if they need glasses, it wouldn’t be so bad for her to need them.
“Monkey, think about it this way. If Cinderella had had her glasses on, she would have seen when her glass slipper fell off, and she could have grabbed it and not lost it.”
“Monkey, think about it this way. If Cinderella had had her glasses on, she would have seen when her glass slipper fell off, and she could have grabbed it and not lost it.”
This was not the exact story my mom recommended… hers was better. It was if Cinderella had worn glasses she could have seen the floor better and could have cleaned it faster. But I couldn’t remember it in that moment and went with the first thing that popped in my head.
After my Cinderella story, Monkey looked at me and said “Mom, Cinderella had to lose her slipper because the prince had to find it so that he could find her. That’s the way the story goes.” Monkey then hopped down off the chair she was sitting on and went off to play.
I got shut down by a five year old.
P.S. the fact that I am posting this story again here after her getting upset that I posted on Facebook is not lost on me. :)
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