Why can't anything ever be easy?

Seriously.

Kate had her eye exam this afternoon. We were absolutely positive that she'd need glasses. She'd been complaining about her vision for a while (more since school started) and has been having daily headaches that her dr. felt was due to eye strain. From what all the optometrist was doing with her eye thingy (sorry, I'm not so savvy with optical terminology), compared to Preston's exam last month, I was certain we'd be told she'd need them. But that would be too easy!

So, Kate is a little bit farsighted, something we've known for about 3 years, but the optometrist always said it wasn't enough to warrant glasses since kids just break them. But she felt that her vision problems are more related to her focusing system rather than her eyes. Yes, she has difficulty seeing up close, but she also has periods where she can't see well far away. Basically, she said that her focusing system gets "locked up" and when that happens, she can't see far away or up close. This was evident during her exam. And apparently, this is fairly common in kids, accompanies headaches, and is often outgrown. Soooooooo, we were told to go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheapo pair of reading glasses to try out before we go forking out for a pair of prescription glasses. She says to see how they help her when doing her homework and reading, and if there is a big improvement overall, she wants her to come back in a month or two and she'll dilate her eyes, get a true prescription. If we're still in the same boat, then she continues to use the readers as needed. So we're thinking that if there is a good improvement, we'll move on to an opthalmologist rather than the optometrist since this seems to be a complicated case. So far, she says she can see much better with the readers. The problem with them, though, is that all Wal-Mart has are readers for adults, so they're really big and can't be worn to school. That, and the fact that she'd have to constantly take them off to see the board and put them on to see her work. Sounds more like something bi-focals could fix, but then again, I know nothing about eyes! Argh.

Tomorrow is homecoming, so it should be exciting! The kids get out early for the parade, something Preston is really looking forward to. Of course, he's only thinking about the candy. Kate is having her friend Addison over for the night if her asthma symptoms calm down before tomorrow. Not sure if we'll go to the game or not, but Kate has already insisted on Pizza Hut for dinner!