I have had a bit of day, you know...one of those days where you have to do lots of responsible things. I had to take Josh to the Optician and the Doctor. My little Puddle Jumper (Car) has been consigned to that great cube in the sky and I am trying to get another on the road so, hideous amounts of responsible things are hard to deal with. Logistical nightmare or not, I still had to fulfil my parental responsibilities. God , she sighs, I hate all the miasma that clings to you when you are a parent.
Anyway our first stop was the Optician, where Josh had to have his eyes tested. He has been complaining for some time about things being fuzzy but I ignored this as all sensible parents do. I put it down to teenage hormones and an aversion to school work - oops! Turns out that number two son needs glasses fast and I am a bad mother. Just as well I knew this already or I may have taken it personally. We decided (Josh and I) that we were not to blame, Grampy was...how dare he breed when he has the 'short sightedness gene'! Josh was a little star and chose some rather Nerdy Joe 90 glasses and looks Fab. He is only 14 and does not realise that this is a life long thing. I wore my first glasses at 16, switched to contacts in my early twenties, wore them for 10 years and ended up with such a bad eye infection in my 30's that I was advised never to wear them again. This of course was as a result of far too much partying and far too little lens cleaning on Ascension Island. The upshot of this is my glasses have become part of me and you have to take me as I am or not at all.
In fact, I feel a little vulnerable without them. As we were waiting a nice lady reminded me that I had had an eye test in November but had not chosen any glasses. I did, but had to go and pick Josh up so had forgotten about it. So here I am, trying to deal with the fact that Josh has to wear glasses for the rest of his life and trying to pick out a pair of readers and distance for myself. The readers were easy. Big strong black framed bottles that you could sit on, on a regular basis, cover with ketchup, run over with your car and give them to the cat to wear. The distance glasses had to be some that I could wear everyday. I was so flustered that I came out with a bit of a 'Jenny Eclair' pair. All thick frames in bright green that were far too big for my small head.
I clutched my miserable selection in my hot hand (why do I always feel a bit hot, sweaty and unattractive among those 'Optician Assistant Girls', in their air conditioned heaven?) and watched as Jo measured and fitted him with his new glasses. She asked me to try on my choice and when I nervously said "what do you think of these" she gently asked me to look in the mirror. Turns out that our Jo of Specsavers in Bodmin was not going to let me go out of the place looking like Jenny. I might be reasonably funny at times but realised what she was getting at. My problem was that I had NO budget....nada. My car is off the road and all pennies must be saved. Also Joshy has just started playing hockey ( he is rather good) and that's an expensive hobby! Jo took me through a lot of frames and made me stand in front of the camera and have my picture taken with four different frames on. Ewwww....hate having my pic taken as I am old and wrinkly now. Jo realised I had no budget and discounted a pair of glasses for me as she was not going to be responsible for me walking out of Specsavers looking like a bad impression of Jenny. So this is a thank you to Jo, who was so very kind, attentive and realised that doing the parent thing had made me neglect myself. Thank you Jo. Even a Big Brand name such as Specsavers has a heart. I am impressed as it is usually me that does a RAK or two.
My day was not finished yet though. I had to take Josh for a check up with his Doctor. The Doc in question has been on sabbatical and we have really missed him. He realised how ill Josh has been and it turns out that he thinks Josh has had Glandular Fever and actually managed to get some blood out of Josh. Josh is very tight with his red stuff and always ensures that no decent medic can find a vein. He also realised that Josh was not using his steroid inhaler as he should and has prescribed another. The upshot of this Blog is that I am a bad parent and should believe my son when he says he is ill. The other bit is to say thank you for all the support from Mrs Phipps at Bodmin College, Dr Stead at The Carnewater Practice and of course Jo. Thank God, Allah, Buddah, Ganesh, I have some support! x
Anyway our first stop was the Optician, where Josh had to have his eyes tested. He has been complaining for some time about things being fuzzy but I ignored this as all sensible parents do. I put it down to teenage hormones and an aversion to school work - oops! Turns out that number two son needs glasses fast and I am a bad mother. Just as well I knew this already or I may have taken it personally. We decided (Josh and I) that we were not to blame, Grampy was...how dare he breed when he has the 'short sightedness gene'! Josh was a little star and chose some rather Nerdy Joe 90 glasses and looks Fab. He is only 14 and does not realise that this is a life long thing. I wore my first glasses at 16, switched to contacts in my early twenties, wore them for 10 years and ended up with such a bad eye infection in my 30's that I was advised never to wear them again. This of course was as a result of far too much partying and far too little lens cleaning on Ascension Island. The upshot of this is my glasses have become part of me and you have to take me as I am or not at all.
In fact, I feel a little vulnerable without them. As we were waiting a nice lady reminded me that I had had an eye test in November but had not chosen any glasses. I did, but had to go and pick Josh up so had forgotten about it. So here I am, trying to deal with the fact that Josh has to wear glasses for the rest of his life and trying to pick out a pair of readers and distance for myself. The readers were easy. Big strong black framed bottles that you could sit on, on a regular basis, cover with ketchup, run over with your car and give them to the cat to wear. The distance glasses had to be some that I could wear everyday. I was so flustered that I came out with a bit of a 'Jenny Eclair' pair. All thick frames in bright green that were far too big for my small head.
I clutched my miserable selection in my hot hand (why do I always feel a bit hot, sweaty and unattractive among those 'Optician Assistant Girls', in their air conditioned heaven?) and watched as Jo measured and fitted him with his new glasses. She asked me to try on my choice and when I nervously said "what do you think of these" she gently asked me to look in the mirror. Turns out that our Jo of Specsavers in Bodmin was not going to let me go out of the place looking like Jenny. I might be reasonably funny at times but realised what she was getting at. My problem was that I had NO budget....nada. My car is off the road and all pennies must be saved. Also Joshy has just started playing hockey ( he is rather good) and that's an expensive hobby! Jo took me through a lot of frames and made me stand in front of the camera and have my picture taken with four different frames on. Ewwww....hate having my pic taken as I am old and wrinkly now. Jo realised I had no budget and discounted a pair of glasses for me as she was not going to be responsible for me walking out of Specsavers looking like a bad impression of Jenny. So this is a thank you to Jo, who was so very kind, attentive and realised that doing the parent thing had made me neglect myself. Thank you Jo. Even a Big Brand name such as Specsavers has a heart. I am impressed as it is usually me that does a RAK or two.
My day was not finished yet though. I had to take Josh for a check up with his Doctor. The Doc in question has been on sabbatical and we have really missed him. He realised how ill Josh has been and it turns out that he thinks Josh has had Glandular Fever and actually managed to get some blood out of Josh. Josh is very tight with his red stuff and always ensures that no decent medic can find a vein. He also realised that Josh was not using his steroid inhaler as he should and has prescribed another. The upshot of this Blog is that I am a bad parent and should believe my son when he says he is ill. The other bit is to say thank you for all the support from Mrs Phipps at Bodmin College, Dr Stead at The Carnewater Practice and of course Jo. Thank God, Allah, Buddah, Ganesh, I have some support! x
