A Wonderful Week

It was a wonderful week, visiting with Jolene Philo and discussing her new book, Different Dream Parenting.

I want to thank Jolene for stopping by and sharing some of her time with us. She has had plenty of experience raising a special needs child. And she was gracious enough to stop by and share her knowledge with all of us.

Thank you to those of you who stopped by and left a comment. 

And...

Congratulations to Kathleen Maher for winning a copy of Jolene's new book. 

It's a busy season, and I apologize beforehand for the brevity of posts. I am working on ideas for articles for the new year. 

If you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to read about, please drop me a line and let me know. I am always looking for new angles to cover.

I will share our Christmas news and how our season of goodies, candy, and abundance of food at this time of year worked out for us.

Sawyer is doing great! He's a tough little guy. 

I am sure Santa has taken notice :D

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Halloween Treats can be Tricky

*photo courtesy of masterworks.wordpress.com*

This was our first Halloween since "the diagnosis."

 All the chocolates, licorice, and teeth-pulling treats are  magnified during this time of year.

So how should we handle it?

I spoke with a young lady yesterday who has been diabetic since she was five-years old. She shared with me that when she was a kid, there was no trick-or-treating for her, and if she did, the candy had to be given sparingly. She took note that her friends didn't have to live like that - watching how much candy they ate and taking shots - so, why did she?

It must feel like some sort of punishment to a little kid, being left out of holiday festivities. Think of all the food-centered holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Fourth-of-July, Labor Day, Easter, and the dentist dreaded Halloween.

It's definitely calorie-free to dress up in costumes, and certainly healthy to walk around the neighborhood on a brisk evening collecting goodies. It's the eating of the hard-earned treats that becomes, well, tricky.

*photo courtesy of myfrugaladventures.com*

I figure that everything in moderation is okay. Well, almost everything. Rather than going door to door this year and having to moderate all those unnecessary sweets, we took Sawyer to our local mall for trick-or-treat. They were sponsoring a two hour event for kids, which included a costume contest and trick-or-treating at the stores. This gave Sawyer the experience without the excess. Later that night, we had a candy hunt for him, sort of like an Easter egg hunt. He had lots of fun with that. We also let him dress up and go from door to door within our home, knocking at each one and saying "Trick or Treat?" as each character opened their door.We treated him with some goodies and he didn't pull any tricks.  I smiled when he squealed with delight and laughter as he said, "This is fun!" 

The candy is put out of reach and we allow him a piece or two with his meal or as a snack. The carbs are counted and he is given insulin for the treats. 

 We will make it through and recover in time for the one month Thanksgiving/Christmas gluttony that occurs each year. Yikes!

A little candy is okay. Moderation is key. This isn't a lifestyle that just diabetics should live by. 

After all, we all should moderate our intake of sweets. 

I'm sorry, Sawyer, but you just can't sit and eat that entire bag of candy in one or two sittings. Nobody should. So, I hope he learns that this isn't just a diabetic thing, but a healthy lifestyle thing for everyone. 

I wouldn't want him to feel left out.

His good attitude about all of this tells me he doesn't feel like he's missing out on a thing.