During the eye examination, your child's eyes may be dilated.  Dilation causes the pupils to stay enlarged so that a thorough examination of the health of the retina, or inside of the eye can be performed.  Dilation also causes blurred vision by decreasing the eye's ability to accommodate, or focus, to see clearly.  This allows the doctor to perform an accurate refraction on your child, which gives the glasses perscription. The dilating drops typically last for 3 to 4 hours.  It is not uncommon for a child with blue or green eyes to stay dilated for up to 24 to 72 hours.  Because of the effects of the dilation, you should bring a pair of sunglasses to the examination for your child.  Your child can return to school with one of our school excuses that alert the teacher regarding the dialtion of your child's eyes. 

If you are planning on driving yourself to your own examination, you may want to bring someone with you to drive you home since your vision will be blurred and sensitive to the sunlight.