Halloween... A Little Less Tricky and A Little More Treaty Would Be Nice!

Halloween Party

Macy and Kalee :)

Thing 2 with Olympic Gold Medalist ;)

With Halloween just around the corner,  I thought I'd write a little something about those days, when the kids were small.  The days of Halloween parades and parties at school.  I don't dread the holiday as much as I used to but when the kids were little I would be running from one floor of the school to the other floor of the school trying to play "Super Mom -Classroom Parent"  while counting candy, cupcake, and cookie carbs..  or should I say making up carb. counts, because I could not possibly keep track of what everyone was putting into their mouths.  I would break out into a cold sweat just knowing what the day ahead was going to bring ...  The kids were full of excitment, so I would paste a smile on my face pretending to be thrilled with the Halloween Festivities that were to come, but I knew that I had a long night ahead of me, fixing blood sugars that I could not realistically keep up with on party day!  That's the thing with Type 1...  it has a sneaky way of taking the fun out of things that are supposed to be a blast..  Not really for the children.  I tried not to allow that....  Halloween was a "free pass" day for them, to enjoy the candy and treats without fear of mom saying "no" to all of the yummy's that they wanted to fill their tummy with.  I am talking about the fun that is taken from the parents who have to swallow the lump in their throat and do the best they can just to keep their childrens blood sugar in a "safe" range. That was my goal on Halloween...  "Not a great blood sugar but a safe blood sugar"....  Now that the kids are older I embrace the holiday a little more than I used to.  There are no more Halloween parades.. Michael still has a little party at school, but nothing too overwhelming....  We will carve our pumpkins (and eat up the pumpkin seeds)-1/2c is about 3 to 3.5 carbs....  The kids will dress up in costume (even my teenagers...  they love the dress up more than my eleven year old does)... and will head out to do some trick-or-treating.  The candy that comes home gets sorted into what we like to eat and what we don't like.  The "like" pile gets put into our big candy bowl and we will treat ourselves to some sweet each day until it is all eaten up... Which doesn't take more than a few days since my husband has little control of his sweet tooth :)  So....  for all of you families out there with Type 1 kids and Halloween on the horizon...  I know exactly what you are going through...  The mixed emotion of excitment for the kids and the overwhelming emotion of the work that is in store for you.  Very soon.... your little one's will get bigger and even though it certainly is not an easy road.....  The Trick-or-Treats will become a little less tricky and a little more treaty for your family;)...  Good luck and Happy Halloween!!