My 3 and a half year old son wears glasses. We discovered this past winter that he will need to wear them “all waking hours until he’s a teenage” according to his ophthalmologist. Because he’s a little boy, he’s very tough on his glasses.
I took him to a big box store and got one pair of glasses that ended up being too big. Next we went to another store to get him a pair of little kid-sized glasses. You’ve probably seen them: they’re flexible, have an elastic strap, polycarbonate lenses. These are all must haves when you have a child under five. But that pair of little kid-sized glasses was a complete disappointment. The frame bent too easily and that meant the lenses were constantly coming out. The strap also lost its elasticity within a couple months, so the glasses kept sliding down hi 
s nose. Enter Eyemart Express. Boy, did I have a good experience there.
We went to their Liberty location. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the selection. Rows and rows of glasses on the walls of a very clean and organized space. The manager, Shawna, met us with a big smile. She was knowledgeable and no-nonsense but also kind and warm. She took one look at my son’s glasses and said “oh, he definitely needs a new pair.” Shawna showed me the huge selection of big kids’ glasses on the wall, but said that she keeps the little kids’ glasses in a special drawer so the kiddos could actually see the glasses.
Eyemart Express has their own line of little kid glasses called TOTS. The great thing about these is that they have a flexible hinge which prevents the front of the glasses from becoming misshapen. This means no gaps in the frames and no popped out lenss. She also selected a larger size for his ever-growing 99th percentile head.
Kids are hard on their glasses. I was happy to see Eyemart Express has a special back-to-school promotion: two pairs of kids glasses for only $79. Score. The offer even includes the most important part of that: the polycarbonate prescription lenses, which are the most impact resistant. This is perfect for little kids. Buy two pair, have a back up.
Eyemart Express has a lab in the store, and an ophthalmologist on-site, which gets rid of a lot of the hassle of you playing the middle man. It also means you don’t have to do a lot of waiting for the glasses. My son’s previous glasses took a week to arrive and we couldn’t test them to make sure they fit properly before leaving with them. With Eyemart Express we went to a restaurant around the corner and ate lunch. The glasses were done when we were. They fit and looked great.
While Shawna was checking my son’s eyes and sizing his glasses, I took advantage of the opportunity to enter the Eyemart Express Cheetah #FastestGlasses contest to win a family four pack to the Kansas City Zoo. We love the zoo and this four pack is a big deal: it includes admission tickets and platinum ride wristbands for everyone (and you know the kids will beg to ride on the gondola and the boat). Winners will be selected on July 24 and August 21. Two opportunities to win!
I almost forgot to mention the best part of this: all glasses purchased from Eyemart Express come with a free one-year Frame Warranty, which includes adjustments and frame breakages. And guess who already called to use that warranty? Thirty-six hours after we got the glasses, my son tripped and fell while running and thwacked his head pretty hard on the ground. He was fine but the glasses took the brunt of the fall. He landed on a lens and it’s scratched, but it didn’t break! Those lenses are strong! We now have to get the lens replaced but Eyemart Express said to just bring the glasses in, and they can repair it on the spot.
Eyemart Express is our new glasses place. I anticipate many visits over the next few years as his grows even larger.
