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
So my last post was no news is good news and I must have jinxed myself. In the last couple weeks, my gut is telling me something is just not right. I am starting to see a slight turn in when she is tired. Am I just over analyzing the situation or are her eyes misaligned again? So disheartned, but hoping for the best. Trying to get in ASAP to our PO – just e-mailed them a bunch a pictures too.
It seems like forever since I have posted – sorry, hope all is well with our little four eyes family. Elliana’s eyes have remained straight since the last surgery and her prescription hasn’t changed again, but I am getting the sinking feeling that it will be soon. She is starting to put her face close to her work again and take her glasses off more for breaks. I’m calling our PO to schedule a visit. We have found Elliana likes clarity and is not a fan of a partial filled prescription. My gut feeling though is that we may be in for a change within the next year again. I think we are at (-2.5, -8.5) now.
We started swimming this summer and have been having a blast. Elliana made the decision to wear her glasses in the water and she is a fish! A couple of people have commented and asked why she is wearing glasses in the water and not goggles. Here is my current answer.
1. This is working for her. She is comfortable and having fun. She can see above and below water.
2. These Disney 187cc cable temple frames are taking a beating and still ticking – so I;m not going to mess with it
3. At this time, there are no goggles for the high rx, so we would have to get the maximum available. With her being so young, I am not sure how well the goggles would work, how soon she would outgrow them, and if she would actually wear them.
SO, fo the time being, she swims with glasses!
Also, my #2 LOVES glasses. We bought him a Build A Bear set of glasses to wear around the house. HE is a hoot and hard on the real and pretend pairs! Elly tells him that when he gets to be a big kid like her, hey may be able to get “real glasses” like her!
I know not everyone ends up with cute little neighbors in glasses (and patching) like we did, but I am thankful every day for their friendship. Glasses are not an issue, just a part of who they are. For the last year and a half, we have had many playdates – most on bicycles or dancing (Zumbatomic). We joke that between all 3 they can see perfectly! Sometimes we even run into them at the PO’s office (always a fun surprise) Surgery is a shared experience and the kids can relate to vision issues. 
The best part though, is really for me, as a parent, having someone to talk to about glasses and vision. If you don’t have a neighbor with a young kid in glasses, I strongly recommend reaching out to someone in your community. Often PO’s have the names and numbers of parents who are also looking for other families to connect with. The park or library is also a great way to meet other families!
Have you made friends with other families that have young children in glasses? Where did you meet? And how has this benefited your family?
It always amazes me with how many children are in glasses, how few characters are in glasses and how, I feel, glasses on kids are under-represented in books and magazines. I think children in glasses are beautiful and would love to have them see that message from the media. Thankfully, more companies are getting on board! I LOVE the fact that the American Girl Dolls company now has beautiful girls and dolls included in their magazines. I have also noticed that more magazines are starting to feature children with glasses – one of my parenting magazines had 8 kids with glasses in their feature stories and one was even a full page! This weekend, we met the first (and probably only) Disney Character that wears glasses! Now if only I could get one of the princess to wear them too!!!
This weekend, we had a family vacation to Disney World. Although I had no interest in going to Hollywood Studios, the Beauty and the Beast Musical was of interest to Elliana, so we went. It was fabulous, but what was even better was the 3D Muppet Movie. No, it hasn’t changed since we saw it on school band trip in high-school and is still quite boring, but I didn’t really watch the movie this time. I watched my four-year old sitting in her chair with those silly looking glasses reaching out to touch everything that came towards her. SHE WAS SEEING 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart was so happy, that YES, the Muppet Movie made me cry!
After I read the contest to Elliana, she immidiately got out her water color paints and asked if I would draw her a “gigantic dragon” just like Princess Peepers has, so that she can act out the book and pretend to be Princess Peepers. 
How could I resist such a sweet request? So, of course, we got to work right away. Here is a picture… 
of course, you will need to check out Pam Calverts site or facebook for our final entry =) Hope you all take a minute today to visit http://wwwpamcalvert.blogspot.com/, enter the new competition, or shop for the new book! I reccomend it for our older preschool / kindergarten age kids! Here is a link to a review http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/pam-calvert/princess-peepers-picks-pet/
The sequel to Princess Peepers is out! Princess Peepers Picks a Pet is just a delightful, charming, and witty as the first (I will save the details for another post)
In honor of this new book, author Pam Calvert is hosting a contest / give-away for this Grand Prize Princess Prize Pack on her blog.
Many ways to enter http://wwwpamcalvert.blogspot.com/2011/02/princess-peepers-picks-pet-contest.html
Elliana and I were asked if we would review the book Hoppity Frog Has Two Clever Eyes, by Hazel Kay, illustrations by Joseph Kay, a product of www.kayfunpatch.com. 
It is a cute little rhyming book geared for pre-school and kindergarten age children that tells the story of when a little frog named Hoppity gets glasses and begins patching. Hoppity can’t win at playing catch the flies and when a lady comes to check everyone’s eyes, Hoppity can’t see them and his parents take him to the optician, orthopist and ophthalmologist. He is told he has amblyopia and will need glasses and a patch. In the end, his amblyopia goes away and he is not wearing glasses anymore.
The illustrations are simple and cute. Elliana was excited to see that the pages were in black and white for her to color and immediately began coloring it as a gift ”for a friend who wears glasses.” I thought the concept of a coloring book / learning book was great and I wish there were more of these available for parents. (Elly’s coloring of a page below)
Although I love this concept, I did however change the wording as I read it to her. This book actually hit me hard and made tears come to my eyes. (I read all books myself before reading them with my children) It is supposed to be a cute story about getting glasses, but in all 17 pages, Hoppity only wears glasses on 3 pages. In the end, he has clever eyes, and NO glasses. My baby will always have glasses and I consider her to be one of the most clever children I know. Also, it is my personal opinion not to use the word lazy. In no way shape or form would I ever use that to describe my child and I have chosen not to use the term “lazy eye” with her. We use strabismus and amblyopia. She has worked to hard with patching 6-12 hours a day for almost 2 years and has gone through 2 surgeries and their recoveries to be considered lazy. I do so wish they would not have ended it with his glasses laying on the ground and his Amblyopia gone. My daughter will always need glasses no matter how good she is at patching. Due to the author’s choice of ending, I have removed the last few pages of the book and ended it at “Hoppity thinks his glasses are cool. He is excited to show all of his friends at school.” We can now enjoy the book and I feel better knowing that it goes along with the message I want to send to my kids about glasses and patching.
Glasses do not define who are children are, but they most definitely are a big part of who are kids are. I love how this home-made T-shirt flaunted this toddler’s adorable glasses! Some of you moms are just so creative! If you haven’t yet found some reason this week to celebrate your love for glasses (they do change the way our kids see the world) make a shirt, print a valentine, talk about how wonderful they are, or smile at your kid in glasses – they are truly something to love!
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