Amy F. is a self-described crunchy, cloth-diapering, extended rear-facing, baby-wearing, garden-growing, sewing clothes, bow-making Mama of two who loves small-town living and living within her family’s means.
As today’s guest blogger, Amy shares with us her moment of realization when it came to the importance of regular eye exams for her daughters, as well as for herself.
I’ll be honest, beyond the routine well-child check-ups, I never even thought about taking my girls in for a “real” eye exam. Especially since I hadn’t had one myself since my college years when I was under my parents’ vision plan. It was just never at the forefront of my mind. I didn’t need glasses as a kid and my husband didn’t need glasses as a kid. I figured my kids wouldn’t need them either.
My oldest daughter, M, now 7, has always had a fascination with reading. She loved books, loved school and loved learning. She taught herself to read when she was 4 years old and would sit and read for hours. My younger daughter, A, now 6, was the complete opposite. We thought it was simply a personality difference. While she enjoyed being read to, books just didn’t keep her interest for very long. She didn’t “read” them like her sister did. She would look at the pictures and make up her own stories, but preferred to be outside, running and playing. She wasn’t ever interested in coloring books or doing puzzles – anything that involved seeing things up close. She was more interested in being social in school than learning and would race through her writing assignments, just scribbling rather than writing her letters. We didn’t think anything of it – she was definitely more outgoing than her sister so we chalked it up to her personality and love of being up and doing things rather than sitting still.
After mentioning to my own sister that A’s teacher told me that she was not staying focused in school, she encouraged me to finally schedule both the girls, and myself, for a comprehensive eye exam My sister told me a statistic that one in four children have an undiagnosed vision problem which can affect their learning. Sure enough, A’s doctor informed me she was farsighted – she couldn’t see things close up. It started making sense why she wasn’t interested in the words in books or doing her writing assignments, she couldn’t see them! She got frustrated with board games, puzzles and crafts, because she couldn’t see what the other kids could. And she didn’t know it wasn’t normal to not see clearly, so she couldn’t tell me.
"A" rockin' her new glasses in school
She picked out a pair of super cute, pink glasses and once she started wearing them at school, her teacher has told us her attention span during school has immensely improved. She is actually learning how to read and write, enjoys puzzles and coloring books, and she takes her time to do her work well. She, surprisingly, has done a great job with caring for her glasses. They have not been lost or broken…yet. As for me, I went in for my first exam in years as well. And yes, my prescription has changed, I needed new reading glasses. Regular eye exams are now a part of our family’s wellness routine. I want to provide my girls with all the tools they need to be successful both in and out of school. And for myself, I don’t want to miss a moment of seeing my girls grow up.
To ensure you never miss a moment and to learn more about vision coverage including how much you could save and where to find a doctor, go to www.SeeMuchMore.com.
Guest blogger, Mike M., works in VSP’s IT department and shares with us how some companies are providing their employees an opportunity to expand their cultural knowledge through direct experience. 
