Back in the day I used to keep a journal. Then I got married and had one baby, then two, then three and journal writing went out the window of course. One day recently while browsing on Facebook I came upon another mom's blog that one of my friends "shared" on her wall. It was then that I realized, blogging is the new way to keep a journal! Why have I not realized this before? I guess I was too busy to even think about it. Last weekend we went to our first JDRF family retreat in Greensboro NC and it was there that I learned about the juvenation network. So here I am and this is my first blog ever. I really dont expect anyone will even read it but hey might as well give it a shot.
Like I said, we recently attended our first JDRF event and at that event something happened that Im still reeling from so I'd like to tell you about it. My son Ray who is 7 was diagnosed back in May of 2011 so we are about 8 months in. In the midst of the 8 months since diagnosis my daughter turned 2 years old and I gave birth to my son Ian three months ago so needless to say its been a whirlwind. Regardless I thought I was doing a pretty good job. Until last week. So there we were in our hotel room at the JDRF family retreat getting ready to go to sleep. Lights are off and Ray and I are chatting about idle things and next thing I know he says something I'll never forget as long as I live. He said "Mom your always talking baby talk to Ian (new brother, 3months old), and chasing Mia (very difficult female 2 year old) around to keep her out of trouble and all you ever say to me is 'check your sugar Ray, did you give your shot Ray?" I was silent, I had no reply. I had nothing to say because I knew that he was one hundred percent right. How on earth did I let this happen? Sometime in the past 8 months, I forgot about Ray, the 7 year old little boy who was my first baby. Ray, the awesome skateboarder and professional lego architect, and Ray the self sufficient independent little boy that I can count on do always do the right thing. I was now treating him like Ray, the diabetic. This was less than a week ago so I cant tell you that I have completely recitfied the situation but it has become my number one goal to never ever make him feel again like he is "just the diabetic" in the family. He is only 7 so I HAVE to manage his diabetic care but somehow I have to find a way to make that management secondary to all else in normal life. So that is my newest dilema in the world of T1D...maybe Im not the only one?
With being diagnosed so recently its understandable that could happen. We get so caught up on our kids health and making sure their fine that you do forget that they are just little bundles of energy and are no different then anyone else. You'll get used to it in due time I'm sure..