School’s Out in Seattle: What Will We SEE with Our Sons This Summer?



Our boys 2005. Squint! Note our older son isn't yet in his Transition
lenses which made summer so much more comfy. Photo by Jim Stoffer.  

Today’s the grand finale for our First and Sixth grade boys. Half day. Yearbooks. Much whooping. And a trip to the local BBQ joint, Rainin’ Ribs, for lunch. Summer has arrived: a fact seemingly belied by the grey clouds hugging Western WA, North Face parkas at swim meets, and Ugg boots still being sported by the grade school set.

We have a lot to see during the Summer of 2012. This is the first summer in years that our two kids won’t be opossums in the sun— whenever it does finally arrive. Years’ past we’ve done dilating drops and patching for their amblyopia and vision problems. That made outdoor soccer camps at View Ridge, even a walk on the beach at Golden Gardens, an uncomfortably bright excursion.

But it was worth it. Both vision therapies have tremendously helped each of their vision. (Shout out to Dr. Janet Barrall for her surgical skill and ability to prescribe glasses for, yes, even a three month old!) Now the pre-teen’s graduated to contact lenses most days and the soon to be second grader sports some pretty sweet and sporty Nike frames.

Now that our boys are older we don’t get the questions like, “How did you know your baby needed glasses?” It used to be that when we went to Snohomish Kla Ha Ya Days (a favorite, small-town festival we look forward to each summer and can’t wait to visit this July, with the sparkling sunlight on the river and the firefighter hose battle’s blinding spray from above)… or a concert at the fair (this year our country music loving boys have picked Jake Owen in August at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe)… we’d be stopped on the street. “They look like little Harry Potters.” (Answer: Oh, why thank you!) “Look at those teeny, tiny glasses. How did you know he needed them?” (Answer: We didn’t… the doctor did. Shout out #2 for Dr. Janet Barrall!)

But despite the fact that our little family of four is now left in peace while enjoying some of Seattle’s best sights (this summer we’re tackling geocaching as a family sport) I’m still on a personal mission to educate fellow parents about the importance of healthy vision and how to look for signs that your kid may need some help. This weekend at the Washington Brewer’s Festival (can I get a woop woop for all things hoppy!) Transitions lenses, partnering with Pearl Vision, is offering free eye exams at their “Official Sponsor of Sightseeing” booth. What a great Father’s Day weekend outing. Head to the beer-lover-mecca, score a complementary vision screening, and get ready to start your summer off right with a goal of seeing more of what’s around us here in the gorgeous Puget Sound.

- Kat (mom to two amazing kids who are blind as bats like their dad and me)

I received compensation to participate in a SocialMoms and Transitions lenses blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.  And to check out the cool photo of the day contest visit here.