I ran across Chelsea’s blog, Roots and Rings, this weekend (apologies for not posting earlier, I later got hit by a nasty trojan requiring the reformatting of my laptop – the two incidents are completely unrelated, I promise), and I was instantly hooked. Chelsea is not just a good writer who is fun to read, she is someone who started wearing glasses at 2 to correct her crossed eyes and farsightedness.
In the first post of hers that I came across, There are no words, she talks about what it meant to grow up always having worn glasses and to have always wanted, but never have had, good vision. In that post, she talks about planning for lasik surgery, it has since been postponed due to her amblyopia.
Since that post, she’s started vision therapy and patching each night. Her posts about that, starting with this one here, A little therapy never hurt anyone, are also extremely interesting, especially if you’ve ever wondered what amblyopia and patching might be like.
I found myself very drawn to Chelsea’s posts because they give some insight into what Zoe is going through today and what the future might hold for her (with the obvious caveat that no two people’s experiences are exactly the same). Zoe’s getting more verbal, but I still find myself wanting to ask her, “but what do you see? What is it like without your glasses? Do you ever wonder why your friends don’t wear glasses? Is there any way I can explain it to you?”
Luckily, Chelsea has agreed to an interview about what it was like growing up with glasses, what vision therapy is like for her today, and any other questions we have. That’s where you come in, do you have any questions you’d like to ask someone who has worn glasses since toddlerhood?
For Little Eyes 
I read some of Chelsea’s blogs & they are completely intriguing to me. I think a lot of us parents can relate with the questions we have about our children. Aubrie is now becoming more verbal and will tell me “I see better with my glasses”, but she still can’t answer all the questions (from never having vision issues) that I as a Mom have. When she first got her glasses, I had several family members doubting her need of these glasses. They were very much critics that someone her size could have very apparent visual needs. Since she can now actually say they help, they finally believe that she needs them…amazing that crossed eyes alone doesn’t do it. I am very interested to see what all Chelsea has to share with us. I know I worry a bit of what is to come for Aubrie & how teasing may become a part of her life for her glasses. Praise the lord at least glasses aren’t what they used to be in regards to style! I also wonder if this is something she can really grow out of. Her vision went from a -5.5 to a -5.75, it really seems like a stretch to think that by age 15 this won’t be a part of our lives…however I’m trying to think positive! All in all, I’m completely excited to see what Chelsea has to say!
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Annie, I will be answering questions over the weekend but I wanted to quickly comment on your comment! I started at +5.25 before I turned 2 years old. Today I am +1.25! Eye issues will always be a part of your lives, but they have the chance to get much much better!
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Wow Chelsea that’s truly amazing! The Dr. said it’s about a 50/50 shot so I’m keeping optimistic. We’ve been very lucky that Aubrie just needs glasses. I was so upset at the time about that…so dumb of myself now looking back. After reading stories on this blog, glasses really aren’t that much to conquer compared to some of the other kids. I’m very thankful for this site. It answers so many questions & it’s great to have other parents to bounce things off of. I live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere so toddlers in glasses is a rarity! I wish I had this type of resource when we first discovered she had vision problems. I’m excited to see what you have to say 🙂 Love the blog by the way…cracks me up daily!
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