Your Child’s Face When You Tell them; NO!…….Kills You; Right?

It’s unfair, isn’t it?

This diabetes coming into our lives, just not fair at all.  When Kaitlyn was very little, we took the kids to Disney on Ice.  We love Disney…….but really…..who doesn’t?  We packed up everything to go and off we went to the Nassau Coliseum.

Right before we got out of the car, Kaitlyn had a glycemic reaction.  Her entire body and every joint became as stiff as a board.  And the screaming.  Ohhhh the screaming at the top of her lungs.  What was happening inside that little body?  It killed my heart.

Anther time we were at a party, a regular birthday party.  One kid took this huge bite out of a cupcake; I was right there and saw her face.  She had a wow-I-wish-I-could-do-that look that just broke my heart.  Before the days of the pump, you did not just inject every time your child wanted something with a high sugar content—it was about balance.  The look on that little face crushed me.  I still see it to this day.

How many times do our children ‘do without’, or go through things that they cannot control, in whatever that means to you; and the look on their faces just sends us into a spiral downward.  You want to just hug them and say it will be okay……right?

But here is the thing about those situations, and I’m convinced of this having been around it for almost 23 years, it impacts us as parents more.  I’m absolutely amazed at their resilience.  So if you are new at this ‘diabetes thing’ and you are just crushed when that happens let me share with you that in the long run, your child will be fine.

I have shared this story before; Kaitlyn and her friends liked walking to the deli when they were kids.  They all had whatever they needed at home but it was a rite of passage to be old enough to walk ALL THE WAY to the deli and back.  They would save their change to go and buy ‘stuff’, Kaitlyn was taken aback at trying to figure out what to buy…..and one day a pickle is what she ordered.

Now in case you did not know this, a fresh deli pickle is the best pickle on earth.  She would carefully unwrap the white paper and munch down her pickle as the others ate their cookies, cakes or whatever they bought………and at first, I felt so bad for her.  But remember—it was about the journey to the Deli; not what they bought.  And do you want to know what happened?   By time they were done with that journey over a few years, the others thought a pickle was so cool…..that they got one too.

The trip of pickle.

So know that the ‘doing without’ is not as bad as you think.  And in actuality, Kaitlyn is one of the most ‘make do’ people that I have ever known.   The surprise for her is rewarding; truly 1000% appreciated—-with no matter to the content.  A wrapped stocking gift gets a true reaction……making do.

With so many expectations in this world, we should all have that attitude of loving the gift and it not being JUST about what is inside……..don’t you agree?  So relax a little, your child will bounce back……..us, on the other hand, not as quickly.  It’s par for the course in being a parent.

I am a diabetes dad.

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