Book review and giveaway: Princesses Wear Glasses

Princesses Wear Glasses, by Kristin Ellsworth, illustrated by Christina Turner

UPDATE:  “Princesses Wear Glasses” is now available from Amazon.  It’s bundled with the cape and crown that were included in this giveaway.

The book I’m reviewing, Princesses Wear Glasses, by Kristin Ellsworth, is not available in bookstores or libraries (yet – update, it’s available now).  It is also sold in conjunction with the Peeps Eyewear glasses.  Ellsworth, founder of Peeps Eyewear, wrote the book to accompany the glasses and sent me a copy to review.  And fear not, if you’d like to read the book, read to the end of the review, because she’s doing a giveaway.  She tells me that she’s working on getting the book released separately from the glasses.  And that she’s working on one for boys.

The story is based on one that Ellsworth told her own daughter when she got glasses at age three.   The story is told in rhyme, and follows Annie, a brave and curious princess who is off to do some adventuring.  Oh, and Annie just happens to wear glasses.  This is one of the parts that sets this book off from many others.  Annie is simply introduced as a princess in glasses.  This isn’t a story of starting out in glasses or learning that she needed glasses..  This story takes place after that initial introduction of glasses that most books focus on, instead taking place when the glasses are simply one of the things that she wears.  I think that stories about getting glasses are important, but it’s refreshing to run in to books that feature kids who are already comfortable in their glasses.  Annie is a fun character, and you have to love a princess who goes off on her scooter (wearing helmet and glasses), looking for adventure.

Annie decides to seek out a dragon because she wonders what makes their scales so bright.  Upon finding one, she realizes that the dragon must need glasses, since he is having trouble seeing:

“I’m lost,” the dragon sniffled.
“And I can’t see far away.
It’s hard to fly.  Which way is home?
What an awful day.”

“I’m sorry you’re so sad.
My glasses help me see.
Try this spare pair from my pocket.
Then you’ll see like me.”

The illustrations by Christina Turner are bright and charming.  They often surround the text, an effect that I think is lovely.

The book is small and thin, it’s designed to fit in a box with a pair of glasses (that match Annie’s from the book) and a dress up princess cloak and crown.  If I had any complaint, it would be that it feels like the binding might break.  Though Zoe’s copy has weathered repeated readings just fine, I wouldn’t expect it to hold up well to a baby or young toddler’s readings.

…

So, now for the giveaway! … Author and Peeps glasses creator, Kristin Ellsworth and I, are doing a giveaway of two of the kits that go along with her glasses, and one book without the kit.  The kits include the book, a princess cape, and a crown – great for Halloween or dress up!  To enter, become a fan of Peeps Eyewear facebook page, and then leave a comment here.  Three entries will be drawn at random on October 24th.

Princesses wear glasses kit - the giveaway does not include the glasses, but will include the book, crown, and cloak.

…

Full disclosure, I was given a free copy of this book for review.  That did not impact this review.

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UPDATE:  I went to random.org to generate random numbers for the giveaway.  Congratulations to Rebecca and Alyssa who won the kits, and Cody B who won the book!

UPDATE #2:  Surprise! Kristin would like to thank every one who participated in the Peeps Eyewear Giveaway,  by sending all of you a copy of the book!   Thanks again for commenting, any feedback on the book is welcome!

Monday night round up of links – calendars, pledges, and fun glasses-themed apparel

I haven’t done a link round up in a while, so here’s a few to check out!

  • 2012 Visions of Home calendar

    Children’s Eye Foundation 2012 Visions of Home Eye Care calendar (this link goes to the store, but you can see the full calendar by clicking the “View the 2012 Calendar” link).  This is a beautiful calendar, featuring images of children, many of whom wear glasses.  Children’s Eye Foundation has run a photo contest each summer since 2009 to find photos for their annual calendar, and this year’s calendar is my favorite so far.  Proceeds from the sale of the calendar support the Children’s Eye Foundation.

  • VSP Eye Pledge.  VSP is asking people to take a pledge on their website to take care of their eyesight.  For every pledge they receive, they will donate an eye exam and pair of glasses to a child served by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
  • Pinterest board – Little Four Eyes.  There’s been a lot of discussion on the facebook group of cute clothes for our kids that are glasses-themed.  Christie has started a Pinterest board of images of such clothes.  Check it out, and feel free to leave links to others you’ve found.
  • A Book Lover - Threadless T-shirts, Nude No More
    "A Book Lover"

    Speaking of cute glasses-themed attire…I just today realized that all of my favorite t-shirts from Threadless were created by the same designer, Lim Heng Swee aka “Ilovedoodle”, and that many of his designs feature animals that just happen to wear glasses (and many of them clearly love reading, too).  You can see all of his shirt designs here.

Yesterday, we did a lot of important things,

but the MOST important of things was this:

a very special new accessory for Bitty Baby.

Phew! My two tiniest girls are twins, again.

(Full disclosure, when I bought these Bitty Baby glasses, I got choked up. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t happy. I was just choked up. Just because it is a thing.  Hey, what can I say? It has certainly gotten easier, but it’s not always easy. I guess motherhood never is.)

Ok, Bitty Baby…time to Bespectacular.

Originally published on Mommy, Ever After

in the news: iPads helping children with cortical visual impairment

Thanks to Bright Eyes Tampa for posting this article on facebook!  Cortical visual impairment (CVI) is a disorder that stops the interpretation of visual information.  Parents of children with CVI had noticed that their children interacted with the devices much more than with other objects, but there had never been any formal studies.  More recently, a researcher at University of Kansas, Dr. Muriel Saunders, who was studying adaptive switches, gave 15 toddlers an iPad to play with in an attempt to gauge the children’s interaction.  Most people with CVI will look directly at objects only briefly, though they will look at lights much more.  The bright screen on the iPad and similar devices can provide much more visual contrast to objects, making them easier to process visually.  Those children that were given the iPad interacted with the objects on the screen in ways that astounded the researchers and their parents.  Dr. Saunders is currently working on writing a grant proposal to study ways that the iPad could be used to help children with CVI learn to interact with and control objects on the screen, and possibly even give rise to new early intervention strategies that may help the children learn to better interpret visual information.  The full article from Tech News Daily is here.

I’m fascinated by the advances in technology and the ways that these technologies can open up new avenues for helping people with disabilities overcome them.

updates to the photo gallery and the books page

I was terribly behind on the photo gallery updates, but I just added 15 (!) picture of some extremely cute kids in glasses! Check them out!

I’ve also re-organized the books page. I’ve added a section for books about patching, and I’ve put some links to help navigate the page more easily.

I would love to add more to both pages.  Send me an email (ann @ shinypebble.com) or leave a comment!

Most beautiful eyes contest – help get some little four eyes into the finals

I mentioned a while back about the Prevent Blindness America “Most Beautiful Eyes” contest. The contest is in full swing now, and voting will continue until the end of the month.

The winner of the contest (chosen from a group of top vote-getters) will be the face of the Star Pupils program – a program designed to educate parents about the importance of vision health for their children.

I would LOVE to have a child in glasses represent that program.  One of the concerns I hear so often from parents who learn their child needs glasses, is that their child’s eyes will be obscured, that others won’t see their child’s beautiful eyes.  We know that’s not true – that our children’s eyes shine through their glasses.  What a great way to show that, and to alleviate some of those fears: to have a child in glasses or a child with vision issues as the face of Star Pupils.

As voting is winding down, we don’t have a lot of time, but I know this community reaches a lot of people.  Voting is easy, you don’t need register or log in anywhere, and you can vote for multiple entries (but only once a day for the same entry).  Please join me in voting for our Little Four Eyes children!

I know of 7 entries from the Little Four Eyes community – if there are any others, please let me know (email me the link: ann @ shinypebble.com).  Click on the photo to get to the voting page.  Remember, you can vote for all of them, and you can vote everyday!  Please feel free to share with others, too!

Stella's Smiling Eyes - Stella wears glasses and does vision therapy for strabismus and amblyopia
Beautiful Eyes - Elly wears glasses for exotropia and amblyopia
Zoe's Eyes - she wears glasses for strabismus and farsightedness
Austin (had a congenital cataract in his right eye and has been patching)
Cutie Pie - she wears glasses for amblyopia
Smiling Eyes (after his surgery for infantile esotropia)
Eye scream for ice cream - Caitlyn wears glasses for vision correction and strabismus

A Time Out.

I have to admit something;

In my career as a mommy, there have been moments that I am not proud of.

Like this weekend, when I told my husband that he just had to watch the baby for a few minutes. I had something important to do.

(Really, I just had to go down to the kitchen and eat cookie dough straight from the refrigerator).

Maybe not my finest moment.

Or later that evening, when we took my daughter out to dinner.

As walked up and down the sidewalk, waiting for our food to be ready, we were stopped by a couple and their young son.

“I have to ask, how do you get her to keep her glasses on?” Asked the woman, lounging in her chair.

And in the same breath, she choked, “But she’s still sooo cute.”

And, in that moment, I loathed her. Loath is too kind a word. I hated her. I didn’t hate her for the question. The question is fair enough. In fact, it is the second most popular question we get.

I hated her for the implication. For the tone.

Why shouldn’t my daughter still be cute? She is beautiful. She is perfect. The glasses are irrelevant. Are you saying they’re not?

My words were acrid in my mouth as I responded to the woman.

“She keeps them on because she can’t see very well without them.”

And then I walked away.

My blood felt hot and my stomach felt heavy.

I did not feel particularly proud of that.

***

But, if I’m being honest, there was another moment.

A moment that I am nearly too afraid to describe.

A moment that was so painful and confusing and embarrassing that it still makes my heart hurt.

I was taking my daughter for a walk. We strolled around a beautiful, outdoor shopping complex, and as I pushed my precious girl in her stroller, we chatted and she laughed with me. I felt so happy. I felt love.

And as we walked, I saw a pregnant woman sitting on a bench. She looked up, studied my daughter and smiled. But, for an instant, I thought I caught a glimpse of her face contorting…I thought I saw another emotion begin to creep across her features…

And that’s when it happened;

My least proud moment:

I worried that this woman, this pregnant vessel to a new life soon to be born, was looking at my daughter and hoping that her baby wouldn’t have to have glasses like mine. I thought I saw pity in her eyes.

And then, I died inside.

Not because I cared what the woman thought–

not at all–

but because I hated myself for letting my mind go to that horrible, terrible, scary place.

I felt ashamed.

I did not feel proud on that day.

So, I gave myself a time out.

I asked myself why I read sadness or fear in the mist that had gathered in the pregnant woman’s eyes.

And in my time out, I recognized that while I have totally grown to love and accept my daughters eyes,

all four of them,

it still hurts sometimes.

It hurt when the woman in the restaurant this weekend asked me how my daughter kept her glasses on.

And it didn’t hurt because of what she was saying and how she said it,

even though it felt that way at the time;

it hurt because of how I had to answer:

“She keeps them on because she can’t see very well without them.”

It hurts. It hurts that my daughter has eyes that don’t work perfectly. It hurts that at night, when I tuck her into bed, kiss her, and tell her how much I love her, that I have to remove her glasses from her face, stealing her sight from her as she drifts towards slumber.

It breaks my heart.

But in my time out, I realized something else; I am allowed to feel crummy. I am allowed to look into the scariest depths of my anxieties, as long as I can shake them off and go on living. Because the truth is, my daughter can see.

The truth is, she looks adorable in her little pink frames with her magnified eyes.

The truth is, the pregnant woman was probably looking at my daughter with misty eyes because she was thinking,

I can’t believe I will soon have one of those. A child with whom I can walk around and talk and laugh with on a beautiful day. How lucky I am. How lucky they are.

***

And so, this weekend, as we strolled up and down the sidewalk waiting for our food to arrive, I shot a smile down to the woman who had asked about my daughter’s glasses. She didn’t mean any harm, after all. And when Another young couple with a little girl stopped us to say how cute my daughter was, I felt wonderful, and the smile that spread across my face was genuine and bright. And when they complimented her on her adorable glasses and fabulous shoes, I felt happy, as I told them, “Yes, my little girl sure does know how to accessorize an outfit.”

And once again, I felt proud.


 

parents with glasses

A friend recently told me about her son getting glasses.  He’s 10, and very excited about wearing glasses, in fact, he was sad when he learned that he’d have to leave the glasses shop without glasses in hand (or on face) after picking his out.  Why was he so excited for his glasses?  Because he was thrilled to “look like dad.”

It got me thinking about what difference it makes for kids getting glasses when their parents also wear glasses.  Both Chris and I wear glasses, both our parents wear glasses, even our siblings all wear glasses, so when Zoe got her glasses, she was certainly following in a fine family tradition.  I’d love to say that being surrounded by others in glasses meant that it was easier for her to adjust to her glasses.  And maybe it was.  I have no idea how hard it would have been for her to accept her glasses had she not been in a family of glasses-wearers.  But my sense is that it didn’t make all that much difference, at least not at first.

father and daughter, both in glasses
Chris and Zoe, seeing bubbles better with glasses

Well, that may not be true.  She got her glasses at an age when she did a lot of mimicking us, so at one point, I had the brilliant idea of using that to our advantage.  The next time she resisted against having her glasses put on, instead of fighting her, I handed her my glasses, and asked her to put them on my face.  I held very still, but had my hands ready to help her get them on my face (and not poking the earpiece into my eye).  And after she’d put my glasses on my face?  She let me put her glasses on her face!  That was a pretty exciting development.

Once she’d gotten over the initial adjustment period, though, I think our wearing glasses did help her with hers.  I think she questions her need for glasses a lot less, since so many people she knows wear glasses, and she’s never talked about glasses looking funny.  In fact, she’s told baby Hazel that she looks plain without glasses.  In our family, glasses are the norm, and I wonder sometimes about Hazel feeling left out if she manages to escape the need for glasses.

I’d love to know what other people’s experiences with this are.  Amberhj posted this great photo on her blog on Stella’s New Glasses Day, when Amber wore a pair of vanity frames to help celebrate Stella’s glasses.

girl and her mom both wearing glasses
Amberhj and Stella, on Stella's New Glasses Day

It’s a pretty common piece of advice for parents who wear contacts to wear glasses the first few weeks that their child wears glasses.  Has that worked for others?

Double vision as a sign of success?

Yes, we buy every cute glasses-themed T-shirt we see. Busted farmer's hat? Not a typical accessory.

Last night, my daughter experienced double vision. But panic soon gave way to reassurance. It was not a bad thing. Surprisingly, I haven’t lost my mind. (Though if I did, would I know it? Anywho.) Please allow me to explain.

Stella, whose vision I’ve covered here at Little Four Eyes before, just turned three. When she was 18 months old, her accommodative esotropia and anisometropia were discovered and addressed with glasses. Her stylish specs keep her eyes straight–HOORAY! We still patch a little bit, because her left eye is more farsighted than the right and so has slightly lower acuity (really, less than one line difference at last check). We’re finishing up vision therapy. Stella can catch a ball, now without using her chest to corral it. She can snag falling feathers with the grace of a major league outfielder, and hit a birdie with a racket, not so much with grace (yet) but with real and consistent contact. Her peripheral vision was opened up by the vision therapy, and her toe-walking reduced. She’s doing very well, and even asks to do our daily at-home vision therapy activities. Amazing progress all around.

Last night, when I heard her crying out from bed, I blamed the cold she’s been battling. I went in to comfort her and help blow her nose. As I leaned over her, I saw a dazed smile on her face. That’s when she said, “I see two mommies.” I looked more closely, and sure enough, her left eye was turned in. I so rarely see her eyes cross–because she almost always wears her glasses. The sight is still a punch in the gut, but I quickly put the pieces together and saw a big positive.

First off, she has a cold–the stress of illness is what brought out her strabismus out in the first place.

Secondly, she wasn’t wearing her glasses. Spec-free, all bets are off, particularly when she’s studying something up close. At least until age 11 to 13 or so, she’ll need glasses to keep her eyes aligned. The vision therapy helped re-wire her brain to always use her eyes, aligned by glasses, together. If her glasses were on and I saw crossing, only then would I have real reason for concern.

Lastly, and this felt like a big and helpful realization to me: She wasn’t suppressing the weaker eye. She saw double because she was trying to use both eyes as usual. If her weaker eye was being tuned out, she wouldn’t experience double vision. Typically, again thanks to her glasses, her eyes are aligned and work together, enabling great stereoscopy as recently measured by both her new ophthalmologist (who is wonderful) and her developmental optometrist (also super fantastic). It’s no wonder Stella found the double vision amusing and unusual. She’s used to two eyes in concert, not in conflict.

Upon further obsession (err, reflection), I was pleased with how she quickly articulated what was going on. Back when she got her glasses, half a lifetime ago for this three-year-old, she had a relatively good vocab for her age but obviously couldn’t describe her vision to me. She also refused to even look at the feather I held in my hand above her head, nevermind catch one. She’s come a long way!

All that said, last night was a good reminder about how crucial it is for Stella to wear her glasses at all times (sleep, bath, and swimming excluded). I’ll confess that sometimes, upon waking, she comes to our still-darkened room and hangs out in our bed for a bit, usually without her glasses. About time we made “glasses on!” the very first step in our day.

Now, if only she could effectively clean her glasses on her own. This cold is resulting in permanently smeared lenses! (Ew.)

 

more on the perception of glasses

A friend sent me this link after reading my last post about whether or not glasses = nerdy.  The story is a piece from National Public Radio that ran this past April, you can listen to the program at the link above, or read the transcript there – they’re the same.  The program talks about a study that was done in a poor, rural area of China.  Two researchers found that while 10% of the kids there in the primary school needed glasses, only 2% were wearing them.  So as an experiment in educational interventions, they offered free glasses to all the kids in one school that needed them (1,500 pairs of glasses).  After a year, compared to children in a nearby school that didn’t receive glasses, the kids that got glasses learned 25 – 50% more.  But the big surprise to the researchers was that 462 families turned down the free glasses, though the researchers aren’t sure why.

The whole article is really quite interesting.  For one, it’s clear that for children with poor vision, having that vision corrected is extremely important for learning.  (Encourage your friends to have their children’s vision examined if they haven’t done so already, especially if their kids are starting school).  And I’d love to know more about why some families refused the glasses.

The biggest surprise to me was that the radio program then brought in an optometrist who claims that “eyeglasses are the coolest thing you can put on your face right now.”  He sells around 300 pairs of glasses with clear, non-prescription lenses.  I don’t know if that coolness translates to how kids feel about glasses, but I’m certain it doesn’t hurt.  The final thought, from the optometrist was that “any hip-hop star to any idol of a sports star that wears them [glasses] influences children’s perception of eyeglasses.”

What do you think?  Are glasses the coolest thing for your face these days?  Is that coolness factor only for adults, or does it also hold true for kids?  I expect that it is true that seeing sports icons and other celebrities in glasses makes them more attractive for older kids, but what about for our younger kids?  Does your child in glasses notice or point out when they see a character in glasses?  Does it seem to make a difference in whether they wear their glasses?

Do glasses still equal nerdy?

Melanie brought this up on the facebook page, which reminded me that I’d wanted to write about this very thing.

A couple of weeks ago, we were out shopping for more shirts for Zoe, since she’s recently gone through a growth spurt.  We went in to Children’s Place, and Chris immediately noticed a shirt with a drawing of a girl’s face wearing sparkly pink glasses.  He pointed the shirt out to Zoe, who was also taken by it.  I rifled through the pile to find the right size, and picked it up and my heart sank.

When we first saw the shirt, we’d only seen the face, not any of the text.  The word “nerdy” hit me in the gut.  Especially since it was clear that the very bright glasses were tied to that word (both are even in pink).  But I was torn, I wasn’t sure how to address it with Zoe, who was still excited about the shirt, and I kept thinking maybe I was being too sensitive.  Long story short, we came home with the shirt, though Zoe hasn’t worn it yet, and now I’m not sure I want her to.  I know that in some ways, nerdy is considered cool now, but I hate that glasses are tied in to the nerdiness.  Glasses have nothing to do with IQ or social awkwardness, or anything other than difficulty seeing without them.  I had thought maybe we were past that – that glasses are common enough that they aren’t seen as a symbol of the nerd.  I loved Melissa’s point in her Eye Believe post about how J.K. Rowling gave her hero glasses, rather than the smart girl or the nerd.

So what do you think?  Do glasses still equal nerdy?   What other non-nerdy characters (especially kids characters) wear glasses?

International Children Who Wear Glasses Day?

So over in the Little Four Eyes facebook group, there’s been a suggestion to make a kids who wear glasses day – tentatively named “International Children Who Wear Glasses Day.”  It would be a word of mouth, unofficial day to celebrate our kids in glasses and patches, a day to raise awareness.

Some ideas for things that we could do on that day include:

  • have t-shirts for our kids (or us – or both) to wear
  • plan meet ups to meet other parents nearby who have kids in glasses
  • post pictures and stories of our kids in glasses to facebook and other sites
  • raise funds for eye exams and treatments / glasses for families that can’t afford it

We were also trying to brainstorm catchy slogans for our day …

  • “International Children Who Wear Glasses Day”
  • “Don’t make a spectacle of children who wear glasses.”
  • “Glasses – helping our children to look good and see better”
  • “Spectacular kids in spectacles”
  • Glasses – they’re not just for “looks”
  • “Children in glasses are a true vision”
  • ” Children in glasses are a beautiful sight”
  • “Little peeps’ peepers”

So…thoughts?  If there was a kids in glasses day, would you be interested in participating in some way?  What ways?  Any clever ideas for a catchy slogan?

Joining the Glasses Club!

I can’t believe my little four eyes turned 5!  Now it seems, more of her friends are joining the glasses club.  It is nice to see more kids in glasses at playdates.  A friend e-mailed me this question and I thought I would share with anyone else who may have an older kid new to glasses.  We started SO long ago that sometimes it is hard to even remember a day where my baby didn’t have glasses.

Q – My 5 year old son is getting his first glasses. I was wondering if either of you have suggestions? Are any types less likely to break? Any brands you all have liked?

A – Congrats on joining the glasses club!  At 5 he should be fine with anything.  Now all kids glasses are polycarbonate which means they already protect from the sun, are somewhat scratch resistant and won’t shatter.  Out Pediatric ophthalmologist strongly recommended against transition lenses for us, but each case is different.  The biggest thing will be to make sure they fit right.  We have used 8 different brands, she has Disney 187 CC frames right now.  All have had pluses and minuses, but have worked well for us.  We use cable temples, but most 5 year olds are just in regular temples and use a strap to hold them on when they play soccer or are running.  I use Lange Eye Care only because that is the only place that accepts my insurance.  IF you do that, make sure you work with a licensed optometrist to fit your glasses as most of the employees are not trained outside of the store.  I also have a pair from JC Penny.  They usually have awesome deals for pairs, but limited selection.  I just go and have Elly try on ALL the glasses available and I look for ones that fit her face (size and style)  Looking back, the one thing I wish is that I bought one of those cute stands for the glasses to sit on at night.  We have a bad habit of just throwing them on the dresser.
Hope this helps!

Amanda

Eye believe

Many, many thanks to Melissa for writing this and giving us permission to repost it.   It was originally posted at her blog, The Glovers.  -Ann Z

I believe in Dr. Cogen because he doesn’t sugar coat things & uses lots of analogies. I believe that some of the patches smell weird & I cannot figure out why. It’s usually the green ones, but I like that color because they remind me of garbage trucks. I believe that some people probably think I talk about The Eye too much. Those people must not be moms. I believe that most people are shocked by a 1 year old wearing an eye patch, which is why they stare at us. I forget about it & usually think people are staring because I have dressed him very cute that day, or maybe he is waving at them & they are impressed with his adorable personality. I really do believe this. I believe God knew I was going to have to quit my job to patch my kid & had my mom move here to prevent that. I believe that his glasses are a magnet for dirt, smudges and scratches. “Scratchproof” -ha! I believe that we should get the senior discount at Kroger on Wednesdays because Anderson has a cataract & bifocals. Technically, he qualifies. I believe that nobody who works at Disney has a kid in glasses because if they did there would be more than one character with glasses. And, Little Einsteins is so awful, nobody watches it, so it doesn’t even count. AND, can we please get Jake & the Pirates and Jack Sparrow an eye patch? Really, is it that hard? They’re pirates! I believe in miracles, but the eye success will not be a miracle. No, no, no. It will be a hard won battle. I believe that Anderson is going to be so flexible, adaptable & empathetic in life. I believe that is not a coincidence that my son’s glasses are round, just like like Harry Potter’s. It would have been so easy for JK Rowling to make Harry have perfect vision, but she realized that true heroes always have a weakness, which makes them just a bit stronger. I will forever love her for not taking the normal path & giving the smart one (Hermione) or the nerdy one (Neville) glasses. I believe that this patching business is a routine on the best of days & an inconvenience on the worst of days & never, ever a tragedy, despite my frustrations. I believe so, so much in his little face with the one eye looking back at me.

Contests galore

I was never one to enter pictures of Zoe in to photo contests – actually, never one to enter any of my pictures at all into a photo contest, I’m not all that skilled a photographer.  But something happened when Zoe got her glasses.  I remember poring over the photos of her, first to convince myself that this was what she looked like now, but then, because I was struck by just how cute she was (I’m a proud mama, ok?), and cute in a way that was quite different from many other kids her age, mostly because of her glasses.   I remember telling Chris that I thought maybe I’d like to enter her picture in contest some time.  Shortly thereafter, the Children’s Eye Foundation had their first photo contest in 2009.

Now it seems like the contests keep coming up, I’ve already mentioned two:  The 2011 Children’s Eye Foundation I Care for Eye Care contest is still running, it runs until the end of August; and the COVD Visions of Hope video contest is accepting videos through August 10, when voting begins.

Prevent Blindness America is also running a “Most Beautiful Eyes” photo contest, though this one is open only to US residents.  You need like their facebook page to enter, they’re taking submissions through August 31, and voting begins September 1.  The winning entry receives a $25,000 scholarship.  You can enter the contest here.

I’ll continue to post links to other contests if I hear of them.  Good luck to all that enter any of these!  Leave a comment if you’re entered one of the contests.