by Brie I have a tendency to put off appointments I don't like. You know, the doctor, the dentist, etc. But there was one appointment I was determined to make. An eye appointment for my 4 year old.

My husband has high myopia and macular degeneration. He has been receiving treatment for his eyes since shortly before the girl was born. And since then I have been wondering and worried that my kids would have problems with their eyes too.

In December I took the girl to her first eye appointment. We went to our local eyeglass store Eye Maxx, where both the husband and I recently bought glasses, and saw the in-house optometrist. I has so happy that she was great with my 4 year old.

It can be a little overwhelming to sit in a dark room and be tested but the girl did great. We had talked to her about what to expect so she was prepared. She was still a little nervous at first but was excited to try reading the letters off the far wall (the optometrist gave her the choice of reading letters or looking at pictures). The only tricky part was when the girl had to lean forward and rest her chin on a little ledge to look into some kind of machine. And even then the only tricky part was getting her chin lined up and her to sit still long enough!

The girl had a great eye exam. I was pleased to hear that she has 20/20 vision, but I was even more pleased to hear that her eyes are healthy and that it doesn't look she has inherited any of her father's eye issues. Yearly eye exams for kids under 20 are covered by OHIP and we will definitely be taking her back next year to check on the health of her eyes. The boy will be joining his sister for his first exam before he starts kindergarten, if not before.

Have you taken your kids to have their eyes examined? Do you have any optometrists you loved in the Ottawa area?

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.