"Mommy... Am I A Nerd?"

My oldest daughter came to me with this question this morning.  To bring everyone up to speed, she is 7 years old and has recently had to start wearing glasses.  I blame genetics, but that is beside the point.  For several weeks, we had received notes home from her first grade teacher stating that our daughter had to be moved up to be able to see the board and that she had noticed her squinting a lot.

Well... that was it... we made an appointment at the optometrist and sure enough, she needed glasses. 0-0  

Anyone that knows my daughter knows that she can be, well lets just say, a BIT dramatic when it comes to certain things.  No exceptions here.  It took us nearly an hour to consider all of the options for different styles, brands, colors, shapes, etc. before we finally settled on a pair that was pink and purple and are able to twist and change on the sides from stars to hearts.

 ** Please note: This was the selling point that got her, and the saleswoman was keenly aware that they were the most expensive pair in the children's section! She even talked my daughter out of the Disney Princess pair because Sleeping Beauty was our favorite and she was somehow NOT included in the little picture on the glasses. Clever lil' minx of a saleswoman!!!**

Back to this morning... She brought me a sheet of paper from the school that stated they are having a "Fun Week" next week in preparation for the skills testing the following week.  Needless to say, one of the days is "Nerd Day." (Which I must say lacks originality and has been done millions of times!)  And on the sheet of paper next to where it said "Nerd Day" was a pair of glasses.  Well, my sweet little girl, who would NEVER over react to something like this, starts to tear up and says... "Mommy, am I am nerd since I wear glasses?"

I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with something very quickly, but it was still very early and I was not even through with my first cup of coffee. So I was not quick enough.

The tears started to well up...

Still welling up...

Starting to form HUGE puddles in her eyes that have yet to trickle down her face....

FINALLY... ENORMOUS tears start to plunge down her face. 

I am still standing there... like a doofus... trying to figure out a good way to explain that wearing glasses does most definitely NOT make you a nerd, but alas, I got nothin.  The feeling of being a failure as a mom started to crawl up into my brain.  Like.. "You really suck... you cannot even come up with a good reason to explain this to your daughter! All the other GREAT moms would have made her feel like a beauty queen now... and even the GOOD moms would have made her stop crying."

Nope... Not me! 

Finally, I hugged her tight and told her I loved her and that if glasses made her a nerd, she was the cutest nerd I had ever laid eyes on.  We stood there for several minutes.  She cried and I just held her.  

Then, in all of her infinite 7 year old wisdom, she says, "Well, at least they aren't broken with tape in between the eyes like (name omitted) in my class! Then I would look REALLY nerdy!" And she started to laugh. 

Then, she looked at me and said, "You are the bestest mommy ever!"

So TAKE THAT perfect moms!

Truth is, as long as we are showing our children love and acceptance in the home, they will learn to love and accept. I didn't have all the right words or any imaginative pinterest worthy way to give her an example of how to make her glasses cooler.  BUT... in the end, I think I handled it the exact way she needed me to!