It's all in the timing!

I think I might have finally recovered from our latest road trip.  We had a great visit with my family.  It's so much fun to bring our kids to the big family functions.  My family is HUGE!  Seriously.  I think I've mentioned before that I have 6 siblings.  Between those siblings, there are also 16 nieces and nephews.  It's amazing how 2 people can become that many more after 50 years!  One of the best things about being around my family is that there's always someone to play with, someone to watch, someone to hug, someone to listen, someone to talk.  Incredible and so comforting!  Lily and Leo both enjoyed having so many playmates to occupy them and it was great for Lily to see her aunties testing and programming into their insulin pumps as well. 

It took me a few days to get around to writing this post simply because I was so touched by the responses to my last.  I see my husband dealing with everything and yet it still escapes me how frustrating it would be to not know what our daughter is feeling when her blood sugars are off.  Your responses made me choke up and shed a few tears.  When Lily was first diagnosed, I searched and searched for a book that talks about all the unique problems and situations that come up when you have a pint-sized (aka: toddler or preschooler) diabetic.  There was nothing.  Really.  I played around with the idea of writing a book about it myself, and it's still a thought that comes up every now and then.  But I'm not sure I'd know what else a parent would want to know!  Anyway, thank you so much for your comments!

On to tonight's topic...per request of Just Plain Me, I'm going to talk quick about road trip snacks.  To be honest with you, we don't do many road trips in the usual course of life.  We visit my family several times a year, which is a 5-hour drive.  For those trips, it's all about the timing.  A typical road trip day for us starts with a quick breakfast, followed by packing, loading the car, getting the kids dressed, and a morning snack.  Usually something fairly filling, like string cheese, nuts, milk...protein-based foods.  We always time our leaving after morning snack in the hopes that the kids will nap.  Leo almost always does, Lily very rarely.  There's a decent-sized town about halfway through our trip, where we stop for lunch.  Not many options, but we usually pick Arby's or McDonald's.  Back on the road for a couple more hours and we're there, usually before Lily calls for a snack.

Nothing ever goes exactly as you plan it though, right?  So, even though we don't snack in the car much, I do pack snacks.  You never know.  My children are both half fruit-bat, half-rabbit.  Car snacks for us are usually prepared, fresh fruit.  Gets a bit sticky sometimes, but I know my kids will eat them and they're healthy.  So, I rinse and core strawberries or pull grapes off the vine and pack them into Tupperware to bring with.  We usually stay in a hotel and will make sure we have a refrigerator available for storing the food and using it for snacks during our stay.  In addition to the fruit, I'll pack some trail mix, nuts, or string cheese.  Those individually packaged sticks of cheese come in handy on the road!  If your kids are old enough, peeled carrots work well too (Lily loves these, Leo is too young yet though!).  I just get the whole carrots and peel them myself.  They taste better!  Long answer short...sometimes you have to get creative.  Kids change everyday and what they love one day, they detest the next.  You just have to look at what they currently like and pick the choices that work best for you as far as convenience and carbohydrate-levels go.

One more quick tip for road trips.  I let Lily go barefoot in the car.  You wouldn't believe how much easier it is to turn around and poke a toe for a blood sugar check while the car is still in motion than to have to pull over and do it!  Don't worry, my husband drives and I do the checks!

Road trips...

Oh, the dreaded long drive with a small child!  And even worse when the child is a diabetic!  We took a trip to Omaha last weekend for a wedding.  I was not looking forward to it!  Six and a half hours of driving followed by two nights in a hotel, a pre-wedding BBQ, the wedding and reception, dance, and all wrapped up with second six and a half hour drive home.  With 2 small children.  Lily actually does pretty well on car rides.  We did the "smart" thing and picked up a portable DVD player to help keep her entertained during the long drive.  Wow, was that a lifesaver!  Now if her little brother would have dealt as well with the long drive!  Leo actually threw a fit when we put him in the car to go grocery shopping this morning.  I don't think he's recovered yet.  My teeny little 16-month-old peanut is pretty strong when he's protesting something passionately!

I have to make this kind of short tonight so I can head to bed and get some rest tonight, but I just wanted to share a few things I learned during our trip:

1.  A six-hour-plus drive with 2 diabetics does not equal fun!

2.  A hotel with a good pool is a necessity at the end of that 6+ hour drive!

3.  Regardless of whatever vending machines and snack options a hotel has to offer, it is always a good idea to keep your hotel room well-stocked with fruit, crackers, cookies, or whatever other snack your diabetic child is willing to gobble up when she's low.

4.  Words that would not normally come out of a parent's mouth frequently come out of a D-parent....."you have to finish your cake before you can go dance" and "well, at least finish the frosting".

5.  It may be no use to cry over spilled milk, but sometimes you just can't help yourself!  Especially when the "spilled milk" is really a half-full tube of test strips and you know each one of those tiny little strips floating in the puddle at your feet is worth $1!

6. Summer/sandal-season is a great time to take a road trip.  Those bare toes come in handy when it's time to check a blood sugar and you're flying down the interstate!

My eyelids are getting a bit heavy now, so I think I'll leave it at that for the moment.  One more blood sugar check and I can turn in for a few hours before getting up to check again.  Oh, how I love my life as a D-mom!  Really, I do!  I just wish it allowed for a little more sleep!

Oh, and a few pics of my monkeys shaking their booties at the reception:

Not the best pictures, but the kids are cute anyway!