What's a fair punishment for forgetting/losing glasses?

[VickiVM]

I need help with my 11 and 7 year old who both wear glasses, but forget them at school, forget to wear them, or lose them altogether. (At the moment, we don't know where my 7 year's glasses are.)

This happens on a weekly basis. I'm tired of being the eyeglass police. My son technically doesn't need have to wear his all the time, just for seeing particularly far distances. But we tell him he has to so he will keep up with them. My daughter has one perfect eye and one that is very far-sighted, so she will just tilt her head to one side to read if she doesn't happen to have hers on. Her doctor tells her she has to wear hers daily. Geez, I'm so blind I think of my eyeglasses as an apendage - can't function without them (or my contacts).

Does anyone else have a problem with their children and eyeglasses? How do you get them to be responsible for them on their own without the constant nagging?

 

[TurboKitty]

First, I try to keep at least two cases for each pair in the house. One near the bed, the other in a place regularly occupied by the wearer.

Then, if the glasses are mislaid, it's not your charge to find them. (Okay, so I took note on a night during the week and put the glasses in a case to avoid this on a school night....)

Let them find the glasses. On a weekend, and have fun.

 

[Keli]

My parents threatened to kill me...I think, I really don't remember but I remember being afraid of losing them. Actually dispite the fear it was a constant battle until my eyes progressed in their near sightedness to the point I couldn't function without them. Then I wore then all the time without fail since I couldn't see if I didn't. And when I started wearing them all the time I stopped losing them too.

 

[VickiVM]

My parents threatened to kill me...I think, I really don't remember but I remember being afraid of losing them. Actually dispite the fear it was a constant battle until my eyes progressed in their near sightedness to the point I couldn't function without them. Then I wore then all the time without fail since I couldn't see if I didn't. And when I started wearing them all the time I stopped losing them too.

I almost wish their eyesight was worse so they would want to wear them all the time.

Did I just say that outloud??

BTW - I have threatened. I swear I'm going to make them wear jeweled chains around their neck with their glasses attached - won't my 11 year old son love that!

 

[golfgal]

What about contacts or are they too young? When was the last time they had their prescription checked? Maybe they aren't working for them so they don't use them? DS10 has had glasses since 1st grade and has never not worn them, his eyes are worse then mine. DS10 got glasses about 1 1/2 years ago and wears them 90% of the time but they need them.

 

[aprilgail2]

I was always so afraid my parents would flip out if I lost that that I would never wear them, Iwould keep them in my bookbag and never wear them this way I wouldn't lose them....I couldn't see much on the blackboard without them so I remember that year my grades fell too....boy I hated those glasses LOL...ended up getting lasar surgery as soon as it came out to not have to use those things anymore!
Don't punish them to much or they may opt to not even take them out of their bag for fear of losing them!

 

[we3disneygo]

we have been going thru this lately...dd12 just got glasses when school started...she thinks there a fashion statement and has left for school with out them, can't find them, but the worst thing I see her doing is playing with them all the time....twirling around and streching the arm piece to get them off !!!!!! it's driving me crazy...... last night I had her dad explain how long it took to work to pay for the glasses.... good luck....to us both!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Alot of parents go the contact route.

As far as a fair punishment? Have "work" to pay for another pair of glasses.

 

[Disney Doll]

I didn't lose mine much as a kid because I am as blind as a bat so if I took them off I literally couldn't see.

The parents took away priveleges till I found them.

Never lost a pair that were never found again, so they never had to buy me new ones because I lost a pair. My guess is that if they had, I'd have been "working them off" around the house.

My parents are great people, probably the best parents anyone could hope for, but they made it a point to teach me personal responsibility and consequences...I am eternally gtateful for this, since so many people don't seem to understand this concept.

 

[LBAK]

I just wanted to say good luck! I'm 43 and still misplace my glasses. It's very frustrating and it's especially hard being that I don't need to wear them all the time. We find them in the weirdest places.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Two of my kids have been very good at keeping their glasses on their faces and not misplacing them. My DD went to contacts just before she went into high school. My 12yo will probably go to contacts once he gets over the "touching his eye" thing. He plays baseball and basketball and the glasses are a pain. I'm worried that a ball will smash into his face and his visions is too bad for rec specs.

My 15yo didn't always wear his glasses, though, and was misplacing them. He hated wearing glasses so didn't. His vision was not too bad, but he did need to wear them for school. He wanted contacts but his hygiene was not good enough for them and he doesn't wake up early enough in the morning to put them in, anyway. Eventually he started wearing them all the time so we haven't had issues lately.

Leaving them on all the time, especially at school is really the best option. Good luck! It's hard convincing kids of that.

 

[NMAmy]

I'm blind as a bat so even as a small child, it wasn't an issue. If my glasses weren't on my face, they were on my nightstand.

I do have some problems with dd from time to time because she doesn't need hers constantly. But, she's becoming more organized as she gets older and keeps them in a specific place.

 

[casey49781]

my dd got glasses when she was 5 and is now 8 she wears them all the time, i wash them and put them on in morning and they dont come off til night,,,my ds got glasses when he was 4 and is now 5 and basically the same as my dd on in morning off at night,no questions asked ,in the beginning more problems with my dd he would get mad and off his glasses would go ,then i would make a big deal about it and made matters worse, then i would ignore that he took them off and when he was done with tantrum i wash and but back on, and no more problems here,,,,good luck to ya ,,,,,maybe take something away til they get them on and keep them on,,,,,,,

 

[crazee4mickey]

I have no good suggestions as I am the ultimate in losing glasses--my parents would ground me, make me pay for them, everything...nothing worked(I even wore a retro type pink eyeglass chain which I thought looked cool in the 80's so as not to lose them )
Unfortunately I lost 6 pairs in 2 years during high school-the one hot pink pair I last saw on an Italian guy in a dance club in Germany--never to be seen again!
I still lose glasses and I am 39...as a matter of fact my blue framed pair are missing, not lost, just "misplaced"...if anyone sees them can you let me know

 

[Michie]

Wow. My 8 year old has been wearing glasses since she was almost 4 and has never lost a pair or even misplaced them. She wears hers all time. I think making them wear them all the time reduces the chance of losing them. I think I would insist on that. My youngest son kept losing his keys, I threatened to staple them to his forehead

 

[VickiVM]

I think I'm going to start getting "paid" everytime they either lose or forget their glasses. My son wants an ipod so bad - he's saving up for one. By this time next year I may have bought myself an ipod My 7 year old doesn't care so much about money, but she does have favorite clothes. Don't think her pink sweater will fit me, but it'll brighten up my closet!

We'll see how this goes.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I'm blind as a bat so even as a small child, it wasn't an issue. If my glasses weren't on my face, they were on my nightstand.

ditto here!

Never lost glasses, but I didn't get contacts until I was 13 I think. Even then, I had ONE PAIR of contacts to last me a whole year. I had to clean them and everything. Such a pain. Teens have it so easy now...daily disposables are such a good idea. (even though I won't buy them now...too much $$$, the 2 week ones are fine with me.)

OP - just wait until you go through this with their RETAINERS!

Sorry I can't help more...

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I don't have a punishment for lost glasses because when I was a kid wearing them I was blind as a bat and never took them off. Then I got contact lenses for 8th grade graduation present - when ever I was being punished, my parents took away my contacts and I had to wear my glasses, which was just horrible, because this was way back it time, when they were called "coke bottles". I'm getting a chill right now thinking that I actually wore them. Luckily it was only for a day and my mom (who had almost the same prescription) gave in and gave me back my lenses.

I think if you do that today, the kids would call DCFS on you

 

[jennyl772003]

My son has worn glasses since he was 3. He only needs them for distance though, so his vision teacher was always having him take them off, then they would be misplaced.

I finally told my son that until he learned where the appropriate places to put his glasses were, he should wear them all the time. Now that he is 8, he takes much better care of them.

My son does tend to lose other things though, like mittens and hats etc, so we make him pay $2 everytime he forgets them. So far this year he has only lost a pair of swim trunks and one glove, which is a vast improvement.

 

[snappy]

All I can add is to try and fix this before the teen years. It does not get any better.

Ask me about DS17 who has twice now not brought his glasses with him when applying for a driving permit, and yesterday, to obtain a duplicate. (OK, he also loses wallets too.) We have to make another attempt today.


He lent his prescription sunglasses to someone at a band competition, never saw those again.

I told him this morning we were going to get glasses and a license on a string that he wear around his neck.