Is 10-Years Old Too Young To Wear Contact Lenses? (Only If Mom Says So!)

DEAR TAZI,

I AM WRITING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I STINK AT TYPING AND DON'T WANT TO MAKE MISTAKES! I AM 10 YEARS OLD AND THE DOCTOR SAYS I HAVE TO START WEARING GLASSES BECAUSE I HAVE BAD EYESIGHT AND THAT IS WHY I CAN'T SEE THE BOARD AT SCHOOL EVEN WHEN I AM SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW.

I DON'T WANT TO WEAR GLASSES, TAZI! GLASSES WILL MAKE ME LOOK STUPID AND ARE FOR UGLY PEOPLE! I WANT TO WEAR CONTACT LENSES LIKE MY MOM BUT SHE SAYS I AM TOO YOUNG! SHE TOLD ME THE DOCTOR SAYS MY EYES ARE NOT DONE GROWING YET AND I WILL OUTGROW MY CONTACT LENSES. MY FRIEND WHO HAS A BABY BROTHER SAYS THAT OUR EYES ARE FULL GROWN WHEN WE ARE BORN AND THAT IS WHY BABIES EYES LOOK SO BIG. IS MY DOCTOR LYING TO MY MOM? IS MY MOM LYING TO ME? IS MY FRIEND WRONG? I REALLY WANT TO WEAR CONTACT LENSES AND NOT GLASSES!

SIGNED,
TOO PRETTY FOR GLASSES

Dear Too Pretty For Glasses:

I am glad you told me the reason you were writing in ALL CAPS; otherwise, I would have thought you were having a screaming tantrum, and that would be a sign of someone who is not yet grown up enough to wear contact lenses!

A few weeks ago I printed an essay on something called "truthiness" - which is something that we believe to be true because we want it to be true, even if it doesn't quite sound true. The story your friend told you about babies eyes being fully grown at birth (and that is why babies eyes are so big) is not true. All of the other parts of our body grow bigger as we grow up, so why wouldn't our eyes grow, too? It is important to think about what people say, and not just believe them because it sounds cool.

It is the fact that your eyes are still growing and changing that has left you in need of what doctors call "corrective lenses" and what the rest of us call glasses or contact lenses. This doesn't mean that you are too young to wear contact lenses - children can wear contact lenses - but most are not ready to take on the responsibility of wearing them, which involves taking them out every night and cleaning them. Wearing contact lenses is a lot like owning a puppy. At first it is a lot of fun, but then you have to walk the puppy, train the puppy, clean up after the puppy, feed the puppy...as the puppy grows up the charm wears off. The same can be said for wearing contact lenses, only the charm wears off a lot faster! If your Mom thinks you are not ready for contact lenses, I am going to have to side with her; Mom's word is like the law - you can't fight it!

I want you to know that glasses do not make a person ugly or geeky looking. Glasses can make a person look smart, and the right style and color frames can be very fashionable and pretty! Nobody is ever too pretty to wear glasses, and squinting because you are not wearing them makes you look ugly and will give you wrinkles while you are still young! Did you know that Justin Bieber wears glasses?

Add caption

So does America's Sweetheart Jennifer Aniston!

That's right...I called her America's Sweetheart!

Even rapper TI and the always amazing songstress Katy Perry wear glasses!

See? You can wear glasses and still look fresh! I think once you are able to see better through your new glasses you will see how pretty you can look in glasses, too!

Snuggles,

Tazi

P.S. I think this cat looks fabulous in this set of "olive peepers!"

I'm sexy and I know it! Yeah look at them glasses!

Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with Bachelors degrees in Communications and in Gender and Women's Studies. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.