My Girls

A few days ago my husband was driving us to our storage unit to pay our bill.  We (myself, husband, and girls 7 and 8) were just going to spend the day runnig errands.  Maybe go to target and let the girls have an icee.  They are such good children and an icee is a special treat that is easy on my wallet :)  Anyways, on our way to storage his blood sugar drops.  He pulls into the parking lot and the sweating has begun.  They have dum dum lolipos inside, so in we go.  (I usually have glucose tablets in my purse, but lately I've figured out that he likes them, so he will eat them off and on like candy.)  He gets a lolipop, I pay the bills.  After lunch my oldest, who is only 8, asks my husband if his blood sugar dropped.  When further questioned, she said that he doesn't usually eat them unless his blood sugar is low and she just wanted to make sure he was ok.  So, on one side I think it's great that my daughter is so aware of the things going on around her.  On the other hand, this isn't the kind of thing she should be worried about.  She shouldn't HAVE to be aware of this.  Both of my girls learned at a young age how to call 911 and what to tell the operator if there was ever an emergency.  They both know where we have glucose tablets, they know that orange juice will bring up his sugar, and they ask him periodically how high his blood sugar is.  They know that if he starts to sweat for no reason, seems "out of it", looks like he will fall down (or does fall down), can't talk easily, or can't get up that he needs sugar and he needs it quickly.  They know that if he can't remember things, one of them will get sugar for him while the other calls 911.  (This is if I'm not home-99% of the time I'm home with them) It's a fact of life for my girls, and it's sad that this is the norm.  They do have a normal life otherwise.  They have friends, go out and play, have sleepovers...we have family nights, we go on vacations and have a good time.  While he has been too harsh with them at times, being a little too quick to hand out punishment instead of giving another chance, he's not abusive towards them.  (verbally or otherwise)  I know he loves them with everything in him.  They aren't his biological children but he's taken care of them since my oldest was only a year old, and my youngest was born.  He is there Daddy is every other sense of the word.  Like I said, it's a fact of life for them, something they've grown up with.  But it really bites that they have to know and understand this at such a young age.