Parents of T1 Kiddos
Rant / Vent
I guess I just need to vent and I’m curious to see how others would’ve handled the situation. Over the weekend we decided to go to a paint studio. It appeared there was some sort of small family get together happening on one side of the studio, so my child, mother and I all chose to stay at the opposite end.
Almost immediately, a little girl (around 7/8 years old) with the family-get-together crew approached my child and asked if she could sit with us. I didn’t see any harm in it, and her family members waved her along, so she joined us. A few moments pass and this little girl pulls out candy, and asked my child if they could have some. My child looked at me and I said, “not right now okay? Maybe in a little bit.” (they were still recovering from a small spike after breakfast)
This girl kept asking me, and my child over and over again. Eventually she tried to grab my child away from the painting area, and into another part of the studio to give them candy. At this point I was getting annoyed and explained my child has T1D and we need to wait for the insulin to catch up from breakfast.
Naturally the little girl had some questions (no biggie) how old was my child when they got it, when did it happen, and how did they get it. I calmly explained and kinda did my whole T1D rant.
This little girl shot back with, “I’m lucky I don’t have diabetes!” But not once - she KEPT SAYING IT. Over and over.
My child stared at me, with a blank face. I said “it doesn’t make you lucky or unlucky, it just makes you different. We’re all born differently” - I turned to my child and asked, “what do ya say babe, you think you’re a lucky kid?” My 5 year old hit me with a loud & proud “hell yeah!” My kid didn’t ask for this. And I’ll never let anyone, no matter who it is, make them feel less than for it.
I can’t stop thinking about it. I know it’s not an easy thing to manage or to carry, and it’s surely not the luckiest thing - but I could tell my kiddo was confused and bothered, and looking to me for an answer. If you made it this far - thank you.