Every day an 18-month-old girl named Layla Grubb wears an eye patch for a two hours to strengthen her vision. Layla has a small cataract in her left eye. She’s worn the patch since she was 10 months old, and her vision is developing well but can you imagine having to put an eye patch on your toddler’s eye every day? I doubt she was very happy about wearing an eye patch.. at first.
Layla’s dad came up with a way to make wearing an eye patch fun! It’s what parents try to do in situations when our kids could potentially flip a gasket, right? When my son stubbed a toe, we ask if it’ll have to be amputated. When my daughter walks into a wall (yes, it happens), my husband walks into a wall in a very dramatic and hilarious way, to make her laugh. You won’t find me purposely walking into walls. 🙂
Geof is an especially amazing dad seeing as how he consistently draws a fun character or cartoon image on a new eye patch for Layla every day.
“Patching can be frustrating for me as the parent, so this helps make it fun and it keeps me committed to doing it every day,” Geof, a 32-year-old stay-at-home dad in the Chicago area, told TODAY Parents via email.
Grubb draws colorful cartoons, like Cookie Monster and Snoopy, and recognizes holidays like St. Patrick’s Day and Earth Day. Grubb archives Layla’s daily patch on his Instagram account and while most patches get thrown out at the end of the day, he and Layla will be able to look back at his awesome artwork and Layla’s adorable smile for years.
“It was easy to come up with ideas at first but it’s gotten harder because I don’t want to repeat designs. I have a running list that my wife and family help me with. I’m always open to new cute ideas, though,” he says.
Check out some of Layla’s eye patches below. You’ll find over 100 more on LaylasPatches Instgram page.
Can you tell we like the retro style? 🙂
I recently had surgery on both of my eyes, one week apart from each other, and wish I knew about Geof’s awesome eye patch art skills so I could have worn a much more fashionable and fun eye patch than the typical black pirate patch!
