It's gonna be a loooooong day

My brother Scott and his kids are headed to Legoland to meet up with friends. He invited Mark along, and I readily agreed (even blew off a school field trip--how bad a mom am I??).

Mark looooves his Uncle Scott, and I love that Scott is comfortable enough with Mark's diabetes to take him for the day. Or at least, that's what he has me believing...Anyway, Scott is a very hands-on dad, and with three kids of his own, I completely trust him with Mark's care.

Shortly after picking Mark up, Scott called to say the kids hadn't eaten yet, so they were stopping at McDonald's. He asked if Mark had eaten yet.

"Yes," I answered. "But if he wants something else, call and I'll give you the carb count."

"We can figure it out," Scott told me. "We'll just figure...50."

I panicked a little. "But you don't know what he'll eat!" I did a little quick math, saying "English muffin, 20 carbs, hash browns probably 25..."

Scott cut me off and said, "See, what'd I say? 50!"

I laughed and hung up. Mark won't die, I reassured myself, Mark won't die.

The next contact I received was a text message. Mark got a large mocha, it read. 60 carbs.

I went to www.calorieking.com and input McDonald's large mocha. Boom! 58 carbs! I don't know how they did that, but he was spot on.

I smiled, proud of their carb counting, until I realized my brother was giving my 9-year-old son a large coffee drink. What the...! Oh well, he was the one who had to ride for an hour in the car with a kid jacked up on caffeine. If it didn't bother him, it didn't bother me.

I texted back, Perfect! Do you know that has coffee in it?

His answer: Too much, I'm dropping him off at your work.

That cracked me up (I knew he wouldn't really).

I heard from them again about half an hour later. My niece Nathalie texted me, Mark says hi.

Hi back to him, I answered.

The phone rang five minutes later, and Nathalie informed me Mark wanted to say hi again.

He got on the phone, giddy and giggling, and I could tell the caffeine was kicking in.

"HiMomhowareyou?I'mdrinkingreallivecoffeerightnowcanyoubelieveit?" he said to me in one quick breath. The he resumed giggling.

"Yes, I can tell," I answered. "Be good for Uncle Scott."

"I will!" he sang. "Bye!" And he hung up.

It's now 11. I'm sure my cell phone will be buzzing all day with text messages and calls for carb counts, but that's fine. I know my son is having a great time with his uncle and cousins, and I'm thrilled about it.

I'll definitely be buying my brave brother a beer (or two!) tonight, in thanks.