I also vote for letting him choose. By the time he’s old enough that other kids will make fun of him, he’ll need new frames at least anyway.
As a kid who started in glasses at around that age - you do NOT want wire frames. You want the sturdiest, flexiest frames you can find at the most reasonable price, which will generally be plastic.
They will get broken, probably fairly often, especially at first. I was not a particularly rough&tumble kid, and I still broke mine several times in one way or another.
I dunno about getting a spare pair, depends on the kid. I always wore mine because with them I could !SEE! but he may not be as motivated. I wore them taped together, wired together, or whatever it took until replacements came in or they could be fixed. That actually made me more careful with them because I didn’t want to look stupid in my patched-up glasses. (Although I think perhaps that sort of thing was more common back in the 60s & 70s than today.) And yes, I remember breaking mine (snapping the frame, not just breaking an earpiece or something easy) within a week of getting them once. Ouch!
I’m pretty sure I got to pick my own frames, although I was limited to a certain price level. I do seem to remember some pretty horrific choices, but hey, I was the one wearing them and I liked 'em (at the time).
So another vote for let him have the frames, particularly if he still likes them as much the second time around. (I do like the idea of rechecking after some time has passed, that’s not a bad way to steer around the 5 year old whimsy). If he likes them he’s more likely to wear them. Besides, I think he’ll look great in those, especially if he likes them and so wears them with confidence.
I will say one thing - when I was a kid I always got metal frames.
I broke every pair at least once.
In high school I switched to black plastic frames.
Haven’t broke a pair since.
I know it partially has to be because I got older and less careless. But I also wear my glasses in the shower nowadays (can’t shave my legs blind!), go swimming in them, and accidentally fall asleep with them on a lot - all things that screw up glasses. I don’t care for red glasses on many people (too bold for most) but he’s a little kid, and a cute blondie at that. I didn’t read the whole thread but how long will he have to have these glasses? I only get a pair every 2 years, so I try on a LOT of frames and am deliberate when I choose. I say definitely let him pick if he will be able (or have to because of change in prescription) in 2 years or less - he won’t be old enough to deal with any horrific teasing by the time he gets new ones if any is coming to him at all over his glasses. Unless kids are way more mean than when I was young (I am 22) the mean teasing doesn’t start until about 3rd grade. And I tried red glasses on and they looked horrible on me, but I was sad because they were pretty awesome glasses. Let him pick.
I will say that my son has had metal frames - and if you haven’t seen modern metal kids frames in this day and age - I think life has changed. These things survived being run over by a bike (the lens didn’t).
Now my daughter had a pair of the plastic ones - she managed to snap those in half in her backpack (on your face or in the case). Perhaps they were bad plastic ones, but my one experience with plastic frames are that metal frames last a lot longer. Now there are significant differences between my son (who is a type A person) and my daughter (who is a type B - on the flighty side). Also - she didn’t NEED glasses - she had (still has) fashion frames - so breaking them is expensive, but doesn’t mean she can’t see the whiteboard at school.
Definitely let him pick. His choice is great, and I don’t think they are that girly anyway, just hip.
He’s adorable, and his choice of glasses is perfect. 
Yes. Because then he’ll have to smoke so they don’t tease him, or have sex so they don’t tease him, or do drugs and binge drink on the weekends so they don’t tease him. I don’t think the parents of younger children realize how much they reinforce peer pressure in the early years just to be confused later when their teenager starts acting like every other teenager.
My sister recently suggested I tell my son, who had decided not to wear his Star Wars pajamas to school for their P is for Pajamas Day, that all the other kids will be wearing their pajamas so he should do. I wouldn’t dream of telling him that but I did make sure he was sure, offered to send his pjs in case he changed his mind (he declined), and then I asked him why he didn’t want to wear them. He just doesn’t think pajamas are appropriate for school. Good enough for me, and he went to school that day in regular clothes.
As to the OP, he’s old enough to pick his own glasses. My son is a five year old glasses wearer, too, and he got to pick his own frames. I gave my opinion (the first pair he liked was a really nasty shade of yellow-green and an awkward shape) and there was a non-Mom woman there who helped but, ultimately, the decision was his. I think he did okay.
I think the ones he likes are cute & not particularly girly, but if you’re afraid he’ll hate then next week, you might consider ordering the more zany ones from Zenni Optical, and getting him a simpler pair from the optometrist.
They’re cheap, and since you order them they won’t fit perfectly, but they have a lot of really cute kid frames. And you won’t be bothered if they get broken.
And adult ones - I’ve ordered from there before, and got good service, and see well out of the ones I got. The prices really are what they say, you don’t pay extra for lenses, unless you have a really strong prescription. And even then it’s only a few dollars.
I say go with what HE wants, but not in that really bright, neonish red. The ones you posted in the OP’ll look good. Then you’re happy he doesn’t look like a cartoon, and he’ll be happy he doesn’t have “girl glasses.”
He has to wear glasses, which can be a big deal for some kids. Maybe giving him control and power over the only aspect of it he can have is the best thing for him?
But then my parents let us wear pretty much what we wanted- I spent most of my childhood in a male cousin’s cast off red denim boiler suit, one sister wore 6 hole cherry-red DM boots to her very first day of school, and my other sister wore nothing but blue for 3 years. We all turned out fine.
Our insurance right now will cover about $90 of the $150 total.
I am keeping his prescription on hand, however, and hope to find a second pair at some point for a lot less.
I got glasses for $50 once. They were some bargin bin frames with cheap lenses. I have a mild prescription and his will be the same, so that does make it easier to get the no frills packages.
I will look into extra warrenty insurance, but I think the place we buy our glasses(Shopko) already has a one year replacement deal, for just about any reason.
Even if he doesn’t lose or break them, he will probably only have this pair for a year.
I have heard from a few other parents that the wire ones are not the best for young children. In fact a friend of mine just told me that her daughter broke her glasses yesterday. She is one day older than my son, and just got her first glasses in Sept… So maybe these plastic ones will be better. They do have the bend out hinges too.
I can’t believe they have glasses for $8!! I think I will get myself a pair, and him a back-up pair as well. Thanks.
Awww… I think little kids in glasses are adorable.
My parents let me pick my first pair, which I got around the same age as your son. They were purple, and I shudder when I look at my pictures from that age. But I was a funny-looking kid all-round, and it didn’t hurt anyone to let me look a bit more funny. The next pair I got was a nice sensible tortoiseshell kind of thing (but I rather like the idea of dark red for my next pair!).
They have a lot of really cute ones there! This one would be great for the OP’s kid. I don’t see how these are girly. I think they are way cool!!
I vote for letting him make his own choice.
Also, in this case, I think his sense of fashion is better than yours. I wear glasses, and I think the ones he picked out are cool and in style right now.
You know you HAVE to post pictures once he gets them.
Also keep in mind that big, clunky frames are back in fashion lately, not those svelte half-frames with floating lenses like you see lots of adults wearing, or thin, tiny lensed wireframes. Think Clark Kent. Really.
I’m voting in the “Let him get the glasses he wants” pool.
[ul]
[li]He’ll need a new pair in a year or so.[/li][li]If he has glasses he likes, he’s more likely to wear them.[/li][li]Don’t stress about the glasses “matching” his clothing–in 10 years you’ll look back on those pictures with fond memories, regardless of his glasses.[/li][li]At 5, it’s unlikely that anyone will make fun of his glasses (have you seen what five years olds like???)–most likely, they will think his glasses are cool.[/li][/ul]
We ordered the glasses tonight, and I took a few pictures. They still have the sticker on, so there is some glare.
By the way, we do not tell him to pose like this. In fact I asked him to put his hands down about 5 times, but he wouldn’t. He is such a character.
And, he just took off his stocking cap, so please excuse the hat head. It is 1 degree in Wisconsin right now. Brrr I hate when you can’t even add an “s” on the word degree!!
