I’m not a big fan of Halloween. As in, really not a big fan. I know that makes me a big ole party pooper, but there it is.
For one thing, everybody tries to be somebody else. Um, I think being myself is plenty hard enough thank you very much and I don’t appreciate people trying hard to fake it as someone or something else.
Totally just me; I get that. Heck, it weirds me out how many people color their hair. I’m telling you.
And then there is the fear factor of Halloween, when people dress up as dead people and hide and jump out and dear me are you kidding.
We won’t even DISCUSS the fake spiders or webs. *shudder*
At my elementary school, we had a parade on Halloween. That was okay. Less sitting still in class, more walking around. Way better!
So for the first ten years of my life, sure, dress me up and put itchy face paint on and make me not touch the makeup all day, fine. Just pay me in candy and I’ll be juuust peachy.
And then came diabetes.
At the time, candy for a diabetic was a no-no. My “medical team” aka my pediatrician didn’t ever think about even a sliding scale of insulin to cover carbohydrates, much less carbohydrate counting or whatever the heck a bolus was.
Doesn’t mean I didn’t eat candy, though!
I just had to sneak it. (Tell me how you sneak candy when you take the exact same dose of insulin each day and eat the same food just now with candy. How? For me, hide the numbers too. THIS IS WHY parents need to see the whole 5 second blood check. In person. With real blood. Every time.)
Thankfully, we do things differently now when it comes to life with type one diabetes: carb counting, insulin shots, pens, and pumps. All foods generally allowed if counted, and if parents say okay.
October means a lot of things (Happy 10th birthday kitten loves Gracie and George! Winter socks! Cranberry-Orange tea!) and Halloween gives me a chance to smile at how far we’ve come in terms of life as a kid with diabetes.
Maybe it isn’t such a crummy holiday after all.
Just get rid of the spiders; I’m begging you.
There is a ginormous fake spider hanging on a fence on my route home. I am fooled by it EVERY time and gasp. Ugh. Spiders.