Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Eating out with ignorant folks

So, yesterday was a pretty busy day. After school we had parent student teacher conferences and then we went to pick my husband up from work. On the way home we stopped to grab a quick supper at A&W. Well, while we were sitting there and Emma was eating...I gave her her needle just like normal. There weren't too many other people in there...and I didn't make a huge obvious deal about what I was doing...I just went about my business of giving the needle just like I do every single day. I have never tried to hide the fact that I am giving her a needle...I've never tried to make a big deal out of it...I've never really treated it as anything unusual or out of the ordinary. I am just helping my child out by giving her something that her body can't make on it's own anymore. It's the same as cutting up your child's food into bite sized pieces so they won't choke. I just consider it as one more part of the routine of eating...wash hands, eat, count carbs, needle. I have noticed many times over the years though that some people out there have a real problem with me giving my child a needle in public. I have gotten glares, stares, rude comments, and the always amusing "pfftt" noise from people. I find it funny too that 99.9% of the time these things are coming from grown adults. People always think and say that children are cruel...they are mean and make it hard for others to feel like they fit in. Well, I personally think that most adults are the actual ones with the issues. Kids may glance over to see what I am doing when I give Emma a needle or check her blood sugar...simply because they are curious. Adults will assume the worst...they assume that it is some kind of "drug" , which blows me away because my daughter is SIX! why the hell would they think I am giving my 6 year old child drugs? If they are smart enough to realize that it is in fact just insulin I am giving her, then they pass judgement on what I am in fact letting her eat at the time. The worst places I have found for that are McDonald's and Dairy Queen. Don't get me wrong...we DO NOT eat at those places all the time! It isn't healthy for anyone diabetic or not. Anyway, the all-time worst was one day I had taken Emma to eat lunch at Dairy Queen and afterwards I got her a little ice cream for dessert. While eating her food, I gave her the needle. This woman who was probably in her 60's was watching the whole time...she had this disgusted look on her face. I was watching her out of the corner of my eye the entire time because I knew that something was going to be said...my radar was up...I kind of  can see it coming now. Well, she gave me the "pfffttt" noise and sat there shaking her head and commenting to herself how disgusting it was that I was letting my child eat that food and making her have a needle. Why didn't I just feed her better and not let her have any sugar? Ahhh...it's really disappointing sometimes how ignorant people are. How did we get to be so cruel to each other? What happened to make us this way? I have developed some pretty thick skin over the past 2 1/2 years...so it really takes a lot for me to actually get upset over something someone says about my daughter's diabetes. I hope that when she is older she doesn't have to hear too many ignorant comments or be treated cruely by people who feel like they know everything. And if she does...I hope that I have taught her how to handle it with a grain of salt and not let it get her down. There is so much more to diabetes than just needles and blood sugars and carbs....way more than most people ever realize. In fact I think the needles and all of that are really the easiest part of it. It's the mental strength you must have to really make it. You need to be able to dig deep and be strong mentally and emotionally. You need to believe in yourself and your abilities. You need to have faith in yourself. There is so much that I am trying to teach Emma about this...I hope I am not forgetting anything important. I hope that she will know some day what it's like to not have this annoyance in her life. She deserves it.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for your comment on my blog... you totally made my day! To make someone laugh is seriously the best compliment I can receive.

    Anyway, this post resonated with me because of a similar situation that happened to another Mom over a year ago... you can read about it here: http://www.deathofapancreas.com/2009/10/wanna-get-mad.html

    Where in Ontario are you? I'm originally from Canada. May I add you to my blogroll?

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  2. Hey Amy... I'd love to chat with you! I live in Texas now, but I miss Canada sooooo much. Especially Aero bars! I'll send you an email so you can get my email address (I don't think you can email me from my blog)

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  3. That would be great Joanne! and ahhhhh Aero Bars!! My daughter gets so mad at me when I sneak one out of her trick or treat bag...lol. I can't help it though!! They are my favourite!

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