Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a very competitive person. When it comes to my life with diabetes, I'm always competing to keep my blood sugars within a certain range that works best for me. I try my best to keep my blood sugars between 76-139, unfortunately my blood sugar often goes out of that range. When my blood sugar goes above 200, I have a shorter temper and things bother me. For example someone clicking a pen will drive me crazy when my blood sugar is out of range.
A few weeks back, my blood sugar was out of range while Sharky and Minnie were doing their homework. Neither was very interested as the weather was nice and the last thing they wanted to do was homework. With my blood sugar out of range I was notin the mood for their games and just wanted them to do their homework so then they could play and I could make dinner. Making dinner ran into helping with homework and I hit a breaking point. With an angry tone I said "That's it, put it away. Go downstairs and color or play with legos." I was asked by Sharky, "Why are you angry?" and it hit me. It was the blood sugar. I said "I'm just mad, go play" . I tested and was 241, I felt like an ass and thought of how I could fix what I had just done.
That weekend I explained what had happened. I did my best to explain to a 5 and 7yr old what I was feeling and why. I then pulled out two solo cups and a bag of M&Ms. I labeled one cup BAD and the other GOOD. I explained that any blood sugar that was above 200 or below 80 meant an M&M in the bad cup anything else meant an M&M cup. Once the bad cup (their cup) reached ten M&Ms they got a special snack (candy, ice cream) they could then risk those ten and try to get to 20 for a bigger present. The catch is once my cup, the good cup got to ten theirs would go to 0.
I'm happy and sad to report that they got to ten before me. Sharky got his pretzel and Minnie got her ice cream. I also emptied their cup once so this is a very even battle. This might sound like a silly game, and I honestly thought it was. I thought that they would forget about it and wouldn't care. They haven't in fact they have learned more about me than some of my friends know when it comes to diabetes. Stopping to get an apple juice now consists of them asking if I'm okay and asking if I need anything else and offering me their after school snack.
The fact that they know when I need insulin and when I need sugar makes me smile ear to ear. I love that if I'm having a tough day they ask if my sugar is okay, I also love that I can tell them that I'm low and need a minute because I'm angry. Diabetes has taught me a lot in thirty years, the fact that Sharky and Minnie know so much about diabetes makes me so happy!!
A few weeks back, my blood sugar was out of range while Sharky and Minnie were doing their homework. Neither was very interested as the weather was nice and the last thing they wanted to do was homework. With my blood sugar out of range I was notin the mood for their games and just wanted them to do their homework so then they could play and I could make dinner. Making dinner ran into helping with homework and I hit a breaking point. With an angry tone I said "That's it, put it away. Go downstairs and color or play with legos." I was asked by Sharky, "Why are you angry?" and it hit me. It was the blood sugar. I said "I'm just mad, go play" . I tested and was 241, I felt like an ass and thought of how I could fix what I had just done.
That weekend I explained what had happened. I did my best to explain to a 5 and 7yr old what I was feeling and why. I then pulled out two solo cups and a bag of M&Ms. I labeled one cup BAD and the other GOOD. I explained that any blood sugar that was above 200 or below 80 meant an M&M in the bad cup anything else meant an M&M cup. Once the bad cup (their cup) reached ten M&Ms they got a special snack (candy, ice cream) they could then risk those ten and try to get to 20 for a bigger present. The catch is once my cup, the good cup got to ten theirs would go to 0.
I'm happy and sad to report that they got to ten before me. Sharky got his pretzel and Minnie got her ice cream. I also emptied their cup once so this is a very even battle. This might sound like a silly game, and I honestly thought it was. I thought that they would forget about it and wouldn't care. They haven't in fact they have learned more about me than some of my friends know when it comes to diabetes. Stopping to get an apple juice now consists of them asking if I'm okay and asking if I need anything else and offering me their after school snack.
The fact that they know when I need insulin and when I need sugar makes me smile ear to ear. I love that if I'm having a tough day they ask if my sugar is okay, I also love that I can tell them that I'm low and need a minute because I'm angry. Diabetes has taught me a lot in thirty years, the fact that Sharky and Minnie know so much about diabetes makes me so happy!!
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