Glasses or Contact Lenses?

My daughter has been squinting at school lately and will soon be getting a vision screening to see if she needs glasses or not. I went through the same thing but at a much younger age. I had glasses in elementary school--anyone remember the hideous looking plastic frames of the 1970s?! My childhood glasses were U-G-L-Y...I am embarrassed about them when I see photos of myself!! My brother also had to have glasses--I feel for him even more than myself because he had those awful black frames that seemed to be the ONLY choice for boys back then! Oh, how we hated our glasses!! As soon as we hit our teen years, we begged for permission to wear contact lenses. I will never forget what a difference contact lenses made in our lives! We went from feeling "nerdy" to "kind of cute" just by getting rid of our ugly glasses! My life transformed considerably at that point: I wore makeup, styled my hair, wore cute clothes--I had a real-life makover! Boys began to notice me and my dating years began. I'll never forget the quote I used about this: "Boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses." I'm not sure, but I THINK this quote was from The Brady Bunch...television was a big influence on me back then! Anyway--so I have a lot of emotional baggage when it comes to glasses due to my experiences. Thank God glasses look SO much better these days!! I have seen very attractive people who happen to wear glasses...it is SO different than it was back then!! My daughter has a pair of sunglasses (in photo) that are very similar to the glasses she might choose if she does need them--I think they are called "rimless," and they are nearly invisible (when the lenses are clear). She looks FABULOUS in these sunglasses, so I am sure she will look just as good with rimless eyeglasses if she needs them for reading or at school. She really isn't interested in contact lenses right now because she doesn't need lenses at all times. I want her to see as perfectly as possible, so I will do whatever is needed to help her--I just can't help but remember those awful feelings from my "ugly glasses" years! I've worn contact lenses since my teen years and I hope to have laser surgery to correct my vision one day soon. My vision is far worse than my daughter's, so her issues are nothing like mine. And if her vision gets worse later, she has the option of really cool looking glasses, or contact lenses, or maybe laser surgery in adulthood. Either way, I don't think she will ever have to go through what I did regarding glasses and self-esteem issues. You know, there were a lot of things back then that caused those kind of issues for teens that you just don't see much anymore--anyone remember kids wearing "head gear" to school for orthodontics? Or "corrective shoes"? Good health is important, but feeling good about oneself need not be sacrificed in order to be healthy. Thankfully, there are many more options for today's teens (invisible braces come to mind). So my daughter may need glasses, but it doesn't have to be an issue that threatens her self-esteem. Teenagers have such fragile self-esteems anyway--no need to make things tougher than they already are. Thanks to all of the businesses and industries that combined products for good health with the need to look good and feel good about oneself. My daughter will be able to see better AND still look FABULOUS! :)