It was a typical morning in our house: kids running around, eating a quick breakfast and trying to get out the door to make it to school. It seems like an easy enough task but having a 5-, 6- and 7-year-old (all in different schools) can get a bit hectic, especially when it comes to being on time!
My oldest daughter was already out the door at the bus stop and off to school. Next up was getting my son to Kindergarten and my youngest, Ella-Jane, to Pre-K. Things were running pretty smoothly this morning until my youngest threw a wrench in our morning routine. It was a pivotal moment that changed both of our lives forever…
Backpacks and lunches were ready, and my son and I were ready waiting for Ella-Jane, who wouldn’t come out of her room and was refusing to wear her glasses. This had never happened before. What had changed overnight that now she was refusing to wear her glasses? In typical mom-fashion I put my foot in my mouth by asking her “Why don’t you want to wear your glasses? Is someone making fun of you?” My confident child replied, “Why would someone make fun of me? I’m just tired of wearing my glasses this way. I want to mismatch them!” As she explained further what she was trying to accomplish, I told her we would talk about it after school if she put on her glasses. She obliged.
Later that afternoon, we picked up where we left off, scouring optical shops and the internet for glasses she could “mismatch.” When we couldn’t find what we were looking for, Ella-Jane suggested we should try to make them. Make them? I wasn’t even sure where to start! We wrote down what we were trying to achieve and sketched out some initial designs. I quickly realized that this was my MOMent, not just with Ella-Jane but with all of my children. I wasn’t sure where this journey would take all of us, but as a mother, to be able to create something meaningful for other children (with my own children) I knew then that I was all in!
- Jessica Darcy (funoogles Founder & CEO)