Tuesday, September 7, 2010

A Ducky Way

Lately we have been faced with some tough decisions regarding Sugar Boy and how we handle Diabetes. How much we allow Diabetes to have an impact in our day-to-day. How much we allow it to impact Sugar Boy’s life.


Facing these decisions and walking that very fine line between keeping him safe and healthy and letting him just be a kid has me thinking of an analogy that I heard once.

Our family is a lot like a duck. On the surface of the water when you see a duck in a pond or a lake, everything looks very smooth. Very calm, graceful and serene. Beautiful really. The duck is just gliding along without a care in the world. But what people often don’t think about is what is going on beneath the surface of the water. That’s where all the action is. That is where the duck is doing all its work. Its paddling like crazy to get where it needs to go. Its legs and feet are what does all the work to provide that beautiful grace and serenity above the water.

I feel like we are that way. When you look at Sugar Boy you see a happy NORMAL kid. He is just like any other 4 year old. In fact when compared side by side to his twin sister, on the surface, there is no difference. He plays just as hard, he eats the same things as she and he seemingly doesn’t have a care in the world. That’s what you see on the surface. But beneath the surface is Sugar Daddy and I. And we are working fools. We are carb counting, food measuring, blood glucose testing, sugar and insulin dispensing machines. We follow him around and keep our eyes peeled for anything that looks just slightly off so that we can catch a problem before it happens. Most of the time we do our jobs well. And most of the time he never really knows what it takes to keep him “normal”.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the way it should be. And as his Momma – I am happy to keep it that way!

13 comments:

  1. that is a great analogy! Thanks for sharing!!

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  2. Nicely said....
    Most folks dont realize there is anything a-fowl...lol
    Your little guy appreciates all you do...he may not realize it now but as he grows older, he will come to understand all you have done for him. Your great training will help him all along the way....
    Cheers on a life... thats just ducky.. :)

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  3. This is the best analogy! That's exactly how Gregg and I approach D. I just love this analogy though! It's perfect!

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  4. The ANALOGY ROCKS Donna. We too work on being the "flippers" or whatever the heck you call them. Although, I guess Joe is starting to do some of it himself now...he does all of his blood sugar checks at home...and he can carb count and does his school boluses with the nurse watching him...so maybe he is doing a little of the work too.

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  5. awesome post from am awesome d mama! I love the analogy.

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  6. That is an awesome post - seriously great analogy!

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  7. Totally thought you were going somewhere else when I saw the duck- but I couldn't agree with your philosophy more. We take the same approach around here. Well said. :)

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  8. Love that analogy! That is one of our top goals - for Ally to live a happy, normal life...even with D "under the surface".

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  9. Oh my gosh! We are ducks! Awesome analogy friend!

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  10. That is a wonderful analogy! I couldn't agree more!

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  11. just came across your blog from D-Tales. LOVE the duck analogy. It is so true that on the surface our kids are normal, healthy kids. It is what makes it so hard for non D people to understand.

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  12. Great analogy!

    The other day the Bean told me, "Remember yesterday when we saw Sugar Boy? (yesterday=anything in the past) When are we going to see him again?" He made quite an impression on her. :)

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