Zoe has started pointing out whether or not characters wear glasses when we read books before bed. I’m not sure how to feel about that. I don’t want Zoe noticing every person and character that isn’t wearing glasses, but I think I may have contributed to it by pointing out whenever we read a book that does have a character in glasses. I want her to see that there are many people (if not many toddlers) in glasses, but not if it means she starts feeling strange when she sees that none of her friends wear glasses.
Make it!
I have found if my toddler helps me make it, she is more likely to take more ownership over it and as a result take more care in it. We have made doll beds, doll clothes, skirts and jumpers for her, a bed quilt, wall art, and even a rug for her bedroom. Here are some links to great tutorials with detailed instructions on how to construct your own eyeglass case or patch. We made an eyeglass case to keep in the car as the glasses just don’t seem to stay on in the car seat. You could accessorize your glasses for every season!
Felt Eye Patch – Super Cute and re-usable! Permission was given by Amy to use her image.
Soft Fabric Eyeglass Case – I like the hard outsides, but Elly tries to smoosh the glasses in, so these are great for us.
http://bayoubags.com/2008/07/27/how-to-easy-eyeglass-case/
Foam Eyeglass Case – SUPER EASY!!!!
http://www.craftelf.com/Craft_elf_general%20crafts_Eye%20Glass%20Case.htm
Winter Fun and Glasses
We live in Wisconsin and for about a week now we have enjoyed (yeah right) bitter cold weather and snow. This morning we had a freash coat of snow on the ground and the temp is in the mid twenties. That means it’s warm enough to bundle up and head outside to play. Let me tell you, glasses and snow do not mix!!!
The falling snow flakes would land on Teagan’s glasses and melt, messing with her vision and frustrating her. I found that keeping a hand towel stuffed in my pocket helped for the frequent times she came to me requesting I “clean them, please”. Then there was the dredded phrase “Oops, I dropped them” followed by my “calmly” asking her not to move while I looked for a glasses shaped dent in the snow. Thank goodness, we found them. Then finally there is the fog that covers the lenses after coming inside due to the temp change. I really have to keep an eye on Teagan then because she has been known to toss them on the floor deciding they are useless anyway.
Oh and while I was searching for the glasses lost in the snow my one year old, Taylor, managed to pull her boots off and was sitting in the snow in her socks (yikes!). That was it. Snow time over!!! Time to watch a movie and for mom to have a cup of coffee!!!!!! Is it summer yet?
Is a vision plan worth it? One mom’s perspective.
GLASSES ARE EXPENSIVE!!! We purchased a vision plan this year because we knew that my husband, daughter, and I would all need glasses. Luckily his work offered a plan and we figured we would try it out. My pediatric ophthalmologist (covered with health care plan- thank goodness) looked at the optometrists and said that she wouldn’t recommend any of them as a place to purchase glasses for children unless they were covered under a plan. BUMMER But they steered me in the direction of the place that would have the best selection for children. When I walked in, the lady at the desk took the prescription to be made and told me to pick out a pair of glasses from the wall that had cables. Since I know nothing about glasses, I asked for help. She went and got the only pair they had with cables and said these will fit. When I asked if my daughter could try them on, she got very irritated. They seemed too tight and I told her this, which was ignored. The lenses were ordered and I believe because I called every day, the lenses were here in 4 days. When I brought Elly in, however, the frames were still tight. They told me they were fine. Luckily, my daughters pediatric ophthalmologist told me to bring the glasses in so they could check the prescription to make sure they were correct and that the glasses fit. She of course agrees that the frames were too tight and put unnecessary pressure on her ears. SO, back to the glasses store, where I relayed the message and had the manager look at them on my daughter. Sure enough she also said they are too tight and they needed to order a pair of frames that fit. Since pink was not available, we ordered purple. Another 5 days (yes, I called daily to check and they now know my voice) and the frames were in. When we got there however, the cables were BRIGHT BLUE. They rigged the glasses so the original frames gold with a little pink, were now with the longer blue cables. ARGH. I wanted to cry, just give me something girly or plain so I can keep these things on everyday, but I know that a happy mom makes everything go smoother. So, I plastered the biggest grin I could muster and turned to my daughter. “Do you want Grover Blue glasses?” I asked. She said yes and put them on… Oh well, they fit, she wears them… I should count my blessings, a little blue never hurt anyone. Here is the general price break down with and without a plan.
Year Plan $350
Cost of Elly’s Glasses with special lenses and 2 year warranty $60
Cost of Hubbies Glasses and visit $40
Cost of my driving glasses and visit $110
TOTAL $560
Without plan
Elly’s glasses $210
Hubbies glasses and visit $250
My driving glasses with anti-glare $360
TOTAL $820
SO, is it worth it? By purchasing a Vision Plan we saved us at least $260, we all have glasses. The hassle of dealing with a place not knowledgeable about children’s glasses was not fun. If doing it all over again, I would ask the ophthalmologist who they would recommend. I would then call that office and ask them which vision plan company they accept and research that one. We ended up canceling our current vison plan. My baby has only 2 eyes and I want to make sure that I am making the best decisions about them. In order to do that, I need a strong team of knowledgeable professionals to help. For me, it would be worth it to spend a little more $.
more kids in glasses on tv
So a friend sent me a screen capture from One Life to Live, the Dec. 1, 2008 episode, where one of the toddlers has glasses. It’s a grainy picture, but you can make them out. (Many thanks to Wendy for seeing this, thinking of us, and sharing a screencap).
The character (for anyone who’s wondering) is Sam “Tommy” Manning, played by twins Jacob Cook and Luke Kendler Clodfelter. As I don’t watch the show, I have no idea if the glasses are ever mentioned, my friend didn’t remember anything and thinks they’re new. From the cast picture (linked above), it kind of looks like at least one of the twins might have strabismus or amblyopia, though it’s hard to tell, and I hate when people try to diagnose from afar, so I’ll stop.
Is this the first instance of a non-kid’s show having a young child in glasses? I’m trying to think back to any shows with kids in glasses, and I certainly can’t think of any that young. Well, honestly, I can’t think of any at all, but I’ve only had a couple sips of coffee so far this morning.
One reason I love this season…
Santa wears glasses!
My First Post – Introduction
My child saw horses from the car window for the first time this week.“Look mommy, there are horses – neigh” For most parents this wouldn’t be a big deal. But we drive past these horses many times each week, and my daughter had never been able to see them before.
We brought Elliana to physical therapy weekly for infant torticollis at 4 months old. That evolved into not using her right side of her body to crawl and continued PT. Around this time, we also noticed her right eye drifting to the side. We brought her to the pediatrician who said that her eyes look great and she saw nothing wrong. She looked at me and told me that I knew my child the best and if I thought there may be something wrong, it is important to have it looked at by a specialists and then referred me to a pediatric ophthalmologist. She also recommended that I get a picture of it.
Since then, we’ve had multiple visits to the ophthalmologist, patched 4 hours a day, and she is now in glasses. We have 4 more weeks of glasses before we begin daily eye drops.
I am excited that the glasses have allowed her to experience a whole new world, but also worried about her future and hope that this blog will continue to be a source of encouragement and information on our glasses journey. 
thankful
It’s Thanksgiving today here in the US. As it’s naptime right now, I thought I’d list of few things I’m thankful for:
- microfiber cleaning cloths
- warranties on frames and lenses
- insurance that covers eye exams (even if it doesn’t cover frames)
- eyeglasses stores that adjust, repair, and unbend at no cost, with a smile and a sticker
- the fact that Zoe’s vision is correctable
- the Interwebs and the fact that I’ve been able to find other parents of young kids in glasses – especially as they’ve helped me laugh at some of the frustrations
children and glasses and TV shows
Last month, we saw that Zoe’s favorite TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba (warning, the page is a little, um, flashy) was having an episode where one of the main characters gets glasses. I was excited to watch the show with Zoe and see how she reacted to a familiar character getting glasses. She happily pointed out the glasses, but I ended up disappointed. The show was all about differences, which was fine, and had the character Muno finding out he needed glasses to see well, he was excited about them, until his friends said he looked strange. Then they talked about how you need to be nice to your friends. Zoe’s still young enough that none of the kids at daycare would tease her about her glasses, though I know she’ll get it soon enough, so it wasn’t really what I was hoping for. But that’s not what bothered me the most. The worst was that the very next episode — no more glasses for Muno! I know it’s just a kid’s show, but that really bugs me, why can’t they have that character wear glasses in future episodes? What does it say to kids who wear glasses to see a character wear glasses – because he can’t see well – and then have that character never have to wear glasses again. Not the best thing if you’re trying to convince your kid that they’ll need to wear glasses everyday.
I guess I just want a show to have a young character with glasses that become part of their normal day to day life. I wouldn’t mind having an episode that talks about why you wear glasses, or how to deal with the teasing, but mostly, I just want to see glasses portrayed as normal – since that’s what they are for our kids – normal. I know they must be out there…
Motherhood and potatoes wrote about a recent episode of the TV show “Sid the Science Kid” about glasses and vision. The show is pitched at preschoolers, which is still a little above Zoe’s level, but not too far. The episode is Grandma’s Glasses, in which Sid tries on Grandma’s glasses, but they make everything look blurry. He then learns about vision and how glasses can help some people see clearly, even if they make the world look blurry to others. Even better, I checked out the website for Sid the Science Kid and saw that at least one of the kids on the show, May, wears glasses, though I don’t know how often her character appears.
GeorgeB also wrote in to say that their latest and greatest find is the Little Einsteins. One of the main characters, Leo, wears the very obvious glasses with the big moon eyes. It is rewarding on many levels (educational, good tv) but by far and away, positive in that it depicts a child in glasses without highlighting the glasses. Leo just is..doing his thing in his favorite rocket ship. A passive, yet very positive affirmation.
What other characters with glasses have you all found? Or, have you run into other disappointing story lines about glasses?
catching up
I’ve been a bit behind recently. In fact, I just got three more pictures added to the photo gallery this weekend, one of which has been waiting for over two weeks to be posted. Sorry, don’t mean to be hoarding the cute.
I have a couple of posts brewing, on toys and tv shows. If you have any thoughts about either of those, feel free to send them my way.
In the meantime, here’s a poll – kids and glasses and cars…good idea, or just asking for trouble?
Do you take your child’s glasses off when they’re in the car?
(polls)
Foiled again!
So we FINALLY get McKenna’s frames after hours and hours of searching for her size. Then we drop them off at Sears Optical to get fitted for lenses and after a week I call to check on them; turns out the guy who was going to send them out took off after an audit while District Managers and Cops were in route; well, needless to say he never sent them out. So, 10 days after that we are finally able to pick them up, we brought McKenna in the next day so they could be adjusted and the temples can be rounded behind her ears. We were in and out in less than 5 minutes. She kept them on for a few hours while we were out but at home they only lasted for seconds at a time. Well, today during one of the many take-off, put-on “games” I felt something rough. To my disbelief and disgust I see that where they temple was bent (at a right angle vs the rounded cable temple we requested) the plastic was split and cracked all the way down to the wire inside. I immediately went to Sears Optical and the guy who was there suggested cutting the temples and “rigging” a rubber cable temple to it. I say rigging because it is not something that would normally done- I might as well use Elmer’s glue. I then suggest taking temples off another frame (since they don’t carry parts). He then proceeds to pick up metal frames and say that they didn’t have any with that length, I then reminded him that with a metal temple he could cut them to size. “Oh yeah” he says!! Seriously?!? So I am sitting there as he picks up orange frames, blue frames, green frames…my daughters glasses are pink. A manager finally comes in and it is explained to her what has happened and if she had any suggestions. She was talking about the girl who caused the problem, in that she has seen her bend glasses without heating them enough or even at all…that this is probably what happened. I asked that they take care of it ASAP and let me know by this afternoon what the solution was going to be.
The manager spoke with a District Manager who said she could replace the frames..they looked into it and it would have only cost them $10.00 to buy them from the manufacturer. But…noooo… they would have had to open a charge account with them and they refused that. So I am left with the manager personally ordering them from the same online site I ordered from and then requesting a reimbursement from Sears. This of course would take another 2-3 weeks.
I will never- absolutely never order frames from online again. Although that was not the bad experience- we cannot get them quickly replaced in situations like these because the local shops do not have them in-stock. The other problem is that because they do not carry the frames the lenses had to be made to fit them, so we need those exact frames again or else pay another $120 for lenses alone for a different pair of frames (and that was with 50% off) on top of buying the frames from a local shop!! Ugh! And here I thought it was best to save money by buying online since the cheapest glasses I found locally was $125.
This has been an awful experience. My advice would be to just forget about the fact that your child will outgrow the glasses in a few months and just spend the money on glasses from somewhere local so that you are never in this situation.
Oh- and never go to Sears Optical.
Your stories – Cortical Visual Impairment
My name is Tobi and I am the mother of a beautiful, energetic and vision-impaired daughter, whom I will call Z. This is the story of how we came to learn about Z’s vision impairment. Unlike most of the visual issues you read about on this site, Z’s primary vision problems lie not with her eyes, or even with her optic nerves, but with her brain. Her condition is called Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), and according to at least one source it is the most common cause of permanent visual impairment in children.
Oh, and one more thing: children with CVI are frequently misdiagnosed as having autism spectrum disorders or mental retardation. This is not to say that autism and/or retardation are never found in children with CVI. It just means that often the symptoms and characteristics of children with CVI are confused by clinicians and therapists, and the children receive the wrong (or at least incomplete) diagnosis.
Continue reading “Your stories – Cortical Visual Impairment”
Finally!!
Ok- Well, we have had a horrible time getting McKenna’s first pair of glasses. From waiting 5 weeks to get them, to the clerk at Sears stashing them in a drawer; not sending them, and then quitting without so much of a note to another clerk to send them. But they finally came back with the lenses today, although we are taking her to get them fitted and the temples rounded to fit around her ears, I had to take pictures!! I put them on her and she left them on for about 15 minutes while I was holding her in my lap. When she was on the floor and trying to crawl however, they began to slip, so she quickly pulled them off. She did though bring them to me to put them back on her, but they wouldn’t stay on. I am hopeful that once they are fitted more properly, that she will forget that they are there and leave them be. Then we will focus on the benefits of the prescription and its effect on her esotropia and farsightedness.
But he’s so cute!
We haven’t had much going on here. Sam still throws his glasses when he’s mad. We make regular runs to get them adjusted.
The only new thing is that Sam has come home from preschool a few times complaining that one of the other boys keeps trying to play with his glasses. I just reassurred him that he could tell JG that he couldn’t touch them, and tell the teacher if he needed to.
Last night, there was an open house at the school, and Ms Anne, his teacher was telling us that a few of the kids were having problems keeping their hands to themselves (Hey, its a bunch of 3 yr olds, what do you expect?). I mentioned Sam’s complaint about JG to her, and she said yes, that was one of the problems. She wears glasses, too, and the kids have never tried to mess with her’s, but they are all fascinated with Sam’s. According to Ms. Anne, the other kids keep saying that “he’s so cute!” and that’s why they want to touch his glasses.
Kids are so strange.
follow up on the frames post
I wanted to follow up on my post about Zoe’s frames. Since people asked, I called our eyeglasses store this morning to get the brand of the frames. They’re Grant Italia frames, which from googling appears to be an Italian company that is seriously lacking in the website department, and does not sell frames online. I also wanted to add that while I wish I could take credit for evaluating the merits of the flexibility and durability of the frames when we were picking out glasses, but honestly, we just went for them because we thought they looked super-cute on Zoe, and weren’t any more expensive than the other frames we looked at.
For Little Eyes 