"But I want diabetes too!"

How do you explain to a 6 year old that diabetes really does suck? He can't see the crappy way his brother feels when he is high or low. He hears us encouraging his brother that pod site changes "don't really hurt that much". What he does see is his brother say "no" to the food everyone else is eating and get something else. He does see his brother get a cup of milk every night right before bed. He does see his brother get banana or applesauce in bed if he is going low. Sometimes we give them both a snack, but it's not good for the 6 year old all the time. Heck, it's not good for the 3 year old, but it is necessary.  He knows that diabetes is "yucky". He just doesn't know why. What he knows is that diabetes allows his brother to get sweet tarts or fruit snacks while we are walking around the zoo. He doesn't understand that his brother's body is on a constant state of upheaval.

And the crowd goes wild!

So we went to the park the other day for some family fresh air. Jackson, our 6 year old non-D child is playing in his first baseball league right now, so we took his equipment to practice. I was all excited because my best friend, who is a baseball umpire, and his wife were visiting. I thought he could help me show Jax some pointers. We threw the ball around for a few minutes and hit a few balls with his bat. Then distraction set in and he was off for a nature walk with mom. I started to pack things up when Joshua, the 3 year old type 1 said "I want to bat". I thought 'oh how cute' and threw the ball to my friend. I went to show Joshua how to stand and hold the bat, but he was already in the right stance. Must have been listening when I was showing his brother. Cool. My buddy throws the first ball and Joshua nails it over his head.