Anyone have ink?

Let's preface this post with something. I was raised in a household where I was threatened within an inch of my life if I got an ear ring. "Ear rings are for girls, are you a girl?" Let me clarify that my parents were not domineering, this was just something they felt very strongly about. You can imagine that if an ear ring was looked on like that, how they felt about tattoos. It just wasn't something that you did.  We were good christian folk :-)

Anyway, when my brother went away to college, things changed a little. My parents eased up and gave me a lot more freedom then he had. Looking back, I realize that it was because all of my friends were from church or the youth christian choir (Maranatha) that I was in. They were still Mom and Dad, just a lighter version.

At some point, my brother got an ear ring. I remember my Dad talking about ripping it. Mom was always thin lipped saying "Oh I can't believe you got that thing". That was it. The world didn't end. I never got one. I just never had a reason to. So life went on.

Fast forward many years, and my brother got a tattoo. He is a die hard Steelers fan, and got a tattoo about his favorite team. Ok, thats cool. When Mom and Dad found out, they didn't like it, but they didn't make a huge deal about it. So now, I think I want one.

However, mine would serve a greater purpose. I have always wanted a black cross on my shoulder. Not sure why. Now, I think I want to incorporate that into a medical alert tattoo on my right forearm. I want to know if any of you have done this. Do you like it? Would you do it again? What do you think?

"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.

Not like Momma taught me!

Type 1 diabetes goes against everything our momma's taught us when we were kids. Yes, we were expected to clean our plates. However, did your mom ever make something else if you wouldn't eat what was for dinner. No! Absolutely not! That was taboo in the circle of Momhood. I know I heard "you will eat your dinner, or you can have that exact plate for breakfast. Then you can have it for lunch."  Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury as parents of a type 1 child. When my child refuses to eat what we make, there are consequences. Which is better? Sticking to you principles and testing to find a blood sugar of 41, or giving in to the terrorist and having your "because I said so" lose credibility?

The joy of screaming!

Screaming is not a fun experience for parents. Babies come out screaming and we spend the next few months doing whatever we can to get them to stop. Screaming children are the bain of most parents existence. Right after his diagnosis at 11 months old, screaming took on a whole new meaning. Sometimes I loved screaming. Like on the days when we had slept through his 3 am check, only too wake up to him screaming. I loved those screams because it meant that my child was still breathing. It meant that I hadn't missed a fatal low in the middle of the night. It meant that even though I had failed in my duty to monitor his diabetes, I had another day to get it right. In that case, I loved the sound of screaming.
Along the same lines, we quickly discovered that screaming was not just screaming with Joshua. If there wasn't a good reason for the screaming, it usually meant that he was high. He wasn't old enough to tell us that he was feeling bad, so he screamed.  Sure, there was the occasional time where he would be screaming to scream, but we always tested. I would say that 85% of the time, he was high if he was screaming for no reason. So, I was never that parent who complained about listening to my child cry. That joyful noise saved my hide on more than one occasion. 

This post was written several years ago. I am trying to rediscover blogging. I couldn't just leave it sitting there with the big old "draft" next toIit. Crazy to think about how much has changed since I wrote this!

Hypo-drunkness is scary!

I had fun in college. My poison of choice was captain Morgan's spiced rum and Pepsi. There were quite a few Friday and Saturday nights (a lot of Thursday's too) spent with a drink in my hand seeing just how stupid I could get. I'm not proud, but I had a good time. Some of the most interesting moments were those that we caught on video. We would watch back a video from the party the night before and cringe. Adult men, well on there way to earning college degrees and being professionals, were acting like  brainless morons. It was common to see someone talking on the video making no sense at all. We would laugh at that point because, at that point we were all ok. It's really disturbing though, the effect that being "drunk" has on your ability to function. It is just as disturbing to see similar effects from a 3 year old. 

D-Blog week post 7 - My D hero

Today's post is about our diabetic hero. I didn't have to think long about mine. My hero has never been in the news, or made a million dollars. He has never saved a bus full of orphans from falling off a cliff. He is my hero because he changed how I thought about diabetes. He stands 3 feet tall and is the bravest guy I know. My 3 year old Joshua. He has had thousands of shots, numerous hi's and lows, and some rough experiences. He rarely complains. He loves with his entire heart. He has gotten used to the multiple devices he has to wear on a daily basis. He knows that he is different. He knows that food is not just food for him. He knows the difference between "Joshua I need you to eat this" and "Joshua, I NEED you to eat this". He knows when he is low and usually says "I want to eat"! He can eat a banana in his sleep. He is a rockstar and so well behaved. He is an inspiration and is the reason I will be at every JDRF event that I can be. They have to find a cure for him. He is amazing, and is my little boy.