The Daily Hailey

A couple of weeks back, we learned Dekker’s prescription had gone up enough that it warranted a new pair of glasses. His have been so good to him, but I can tell they’re getting a bit small, and frankly, a bit banged up, so I’m not at all disappointed about getting him some new ones.

Since we first went on the hunt for glasses for Dekker almost four years ago, we’ve learned a lot. LOTS of places have a program/promotion/whatever else that provides kids lenses free, assuming you get just the basic lenses. They can be further upgraded and changed, but at the very least, most places offer about $50 off of a pair of childrens glasses.

We began at the store that we had bought Dekker’s last pair of glasses from, and surprisingly, they had greatly downsized their selection of children’s frames. They had one pair that we wrote down, but we weren’t excited, and they were too expensive to not be excited about them. So we kept moving.

We went to another place on recommendation, and they had a bit more to choose from. However, only really one pair fit well, and we could only qualify for the children’s program if we bought two pairs. It was kind of disappointing, but again, we wrote down a pair that fit pretty well, and headed out.

We were going to get lunch from there, but we drove by another optical shop that we had gone to once before, just for the strap that used to hold Dekker’s glasses on. At that point, we knew so little about glasses for kids, and they were super knowledgable and great with Dekker. So I snagged him on his own and we went in. It was a different scene there, as the children’s frames were all mixed in with the adult frames. We found some AMAZING ones though, that I would have bit the bullet on instantly if not for the hefty price tags. It was disappointing. As the woman was writing names and models down, a man who was working there also came over and picked Dekker up. Not long ago, he would have LOST IT. But he didn’t. The man showed him one of the pairs that he had picked and told him he had the same glasses. He had Dekker put them on, and he went and got his, and they joked about how they were wearing the same glasses. It was an AWESOME environment, and the glasses were SO COOL. I was pretty attached to one pair. Just seemed pretty spendy for such a young kid.

We grabbed some lunch and then headed to Superstore. We needed groceries, and we wanted to look in their optical section as well. If you didn’t know, Superstore often has this kids program that’s called “Kids See Free.” Kids can get a pair of glasses entirely free! It includes a $50 frame and basic lenses, and of course it can all be upgraded, but at a pretty reasonable price. I figured, we’d for sure get a pair at Superstore, even if they weren’t perfect, as a backup pair. But as things tend to go, we were THRILLED to find a pair of glasses for Dekker that will definitely be his daily pair! I’ll be honest and say that he wasn’t as thrilled as we were. He liked the same frames, but he liked them in blue. Brady and I went back and forth about whether it was worth it to push for the black ones, but after hemming and hawing, we decided that the blue ones just looked cheap, and the black ones looked sharp. So he wasn’t thrilled. But he will be soon, haha!

This beautiful pair of specs cost us a grand total of $30, because they were originally $80, and we got the $50 off, as I mentioned. Because they were more that the basic $50 frame, they come with more warranty, and for some reason, they’re putting the thinning treatment on them for free. Don’t ask me why. I paid a decent amount to have my glasses thinned so I wouldn’t look like a muppet, but here we are, getting that done, “just to make them a bit nicer,” the saleswoman said. I accept! What a huge win!

I’m so thrilled we found Dekker such a nice pair of glasses and are forking over a mere $30 for them, rather than the $200 I was considering at a previous store. God continues to provide.

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The results are in today!!

He had a brief moment of disappointment when we told him we didn’t order him the blue ones, but he was satisfied once he saw them on. The triangular, bright blue glasses case sealed the deal, and he is a happy camper.

I’m calling this whole experience a great success!!