In My 30s. With Kids. And Dating.

I have a feature set up on my Apple TV that after some time of no interaction, it will display photos. I love this feature! It shows pictures I haven’t seen in years. What came across my tv today was the above photo of my daughter M., who just got her glasses at the age of 3. 

As you can see, the glasses are hot pink with little silicone hooks that wrap behind her ears. She also had a matching, hot pink band that stretched across the back of her head to ensure they stay on even during the most active times of the day. 

Let’s go back to last year….

In the optometrist office, I carefully placed the glasses on her sweet little face. “Perfect!” I said. She smiled wide, as if to wait for my approval. I couldn’t believe my three-year-old had prescription eyeglasses; even after putting them on her face. I could easily tell which lens had a higher prescription, as it was thicker and the edge close to the frame would catch the light as she would move. 

Four weeks ago prior to that, I picked M. up from daycare. As I walked to her cubby to grab her coat and colorful artwork, there was an envelope with her name on it. I tilted my head as I picked it up not quite sure what it could be. Not able to wait until we got home, I opened the envelope and pulled out three stapled sheets of paper. The top sheet stating M. did not pass her vision screening and needed to see an optometrist. “That couldn’t be right…Maya sees just fine. I haven’t ever noticed her struggling to see. Ever!” The next two sheets were explaining what her prescription was and that her right eye was dramatically weaker than her left. AMBLYOPIA was mentioned as a possibility. 

Wanting to prove this vision screening was incorrect, I made an appointment with a pediatric optometrist that next morning. “Ma’am, we actually have a cancellation for tomorrow at 10:30 am. Would that work for you?” 

“Yes! I will take it!”

The following day Maya and I walked out the pediatric optometrist office with an eye glass prescription, patching instructions, and a follow-up appointment three months out. 

If you are keeping score: Mom – 0, Vision Screening People – 1 

As her mother, how did I not ever notice? She never squinted. She always was pointing to the moon, stars, and airplanes in the sky!

After I stopped beating myself up, I took her to get glasses picked out. Standing in the front of the children’s frames, they all seemed to be so large for her tiny face. Finally, they brought out the good stuff, a big gray case of tiny plastic frames. In the end, I let Maya pick out her glasses; after all she would be wearing them!

The glasses were perfect indeed! She gleams as she struts around the house. There were 3 things that helped her adjust to wearing her new glasses and eye patching routine. 

1. I let her pick out the glasses. Trust me on this. Since she made the decision on which ones she wanted to wear, she was more inclined to keep them on. And honestly, that is how it should be. Even at the age of three, she has an opinion and should exercise it. (And, I think she made an excellent choice!) The glasses are now just an extension of my three-year-old’s mighty personality.
2. When I clean my glasses, she cleans hers. When I put mine in the case for the night, she does the same. M. saw me take care of my glasses so of course she wanted to follow suit. This helped her get into the habit of taking care of her glasses and realizing that they an important item. 
3. Okay, now the not so fun part…patching. I was given instruction by her pediatric optometrist to patch 4 hours a day to help strengthen the eye muscles in the weak eye. I was provided 5 disposable eye patches. Once I made it home, I hopped on Amazon and his was tough in the beginning. If you are interested in the patches we used, you can find them here: https://mydjlmm.com/2025/07/18/little-glasses/. ^{_{(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)}} It comes with a cute poster that your child can add their eye patches to after wearing. Patching her right eye was no fun, but as the days went by, she tolerated it. She also loved filling up her poster!  

What are some ways you have found that encourages your children to wear their glasses or keep up with their eye patching?!