Last weekend was a bit of a madhouse. It started with a trip to Disneyland on Thursday to celebrate my cousin Kathleen's birthday, and ended with my brother Scott, his wife Mary and their three kids staying over at my house. (There's nothing I like better than a houseful of family!)
Disneyland was a blast. It was a lot more crowded than I expected for a random Thursday. And poor Kathleen started her birthday celebration by getting a flat t i r e in the parking lot, but not even that could ruin our day. It was still better than being at work!
We also had a minor glucose emergency. The previous day, Mark had a low blood sugar at Cub Scouts before I got there, but no glucose tabs. One of the moms ran over to Kid's Club and saved the day. But I freaked a bit, and immediately stuffed all the tabs I had into his backpack. Which didn't help me at Disneyland when he felt low and I realized I had no glucose tabs. So we got in line at the bakery, where I came up with a brilliant solution.
"Scarf these sugar packets!" I ordered, and I could almost hear the people behind me gasp. I watched him gulp one, then another packet, half of which he spilled down his shirt. People were openly staring at me force feed sugar to my kid, and I'm sure they were all thinking what a horrible, crazy mom I am. To which I say -- hey, welcome to a day in the life of dia betes!
"One more!" I barked, then moved ahead to buy him a big bottle of chocolate milk and a croissant. I stuffed a few extra sugar packets in my bag on the way out.
It was a beautifully sunny day, and it was fun to watch Mark and his cousins run wildly through the park. Mary and Kathleen braved Space Mountain with the older kids, while Scott and I accompanied Grant on Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours.
We stopped briefly for lunch and as we were leaving, Mary announced that she was "taking Grant to Pooh." I know she meant the Winnie the Pooh ride, but it just sounded so wrong! I was the first one to inappropriately giggle, and when the kids realized I couldn't stop snickering, they all joined in. (I am quite often the "bad example" adult in the crowd -- you know, the immature, snickering one; the one who riles all the kids up right before bedtime. I even do that to my own kid sometimes!)
Nathalie, Gabi and Grant all had birthday money burning a hole in their pockets. Grant, who wanted boxing gloves for his birthday, settled for giant padded Mickey Mouse gloves instead. He kept folding all the fingers but the two middle ones down, so that they formed a peace sign. He'd hold up the two fingers and ask, "You want a PEACE of me?" Cue unstoppable giggles part two.
Gabi purchased a large green Goofy hat, which she wore for the next three days straight. She couldn't hear very well with them on, but that might have been the point. You'd think four kids would be four times louder than just one kid, but they're actually about 25 times louder!
When it was time to leave, I took Mark and Nathalie in my car. We sang funny songs and talked in silly Southern accents the whole way, and I realized how lucky I am to have not just a great kid, but some pretty great nieces and nephews as well. I really dig hanging out with them.
As does Mark. When Mary asked if she could pick him up after school on Friday, he jumped at it. "I go to Kid's Club every day," he told me. "But I don't get to see the kids every day!" I was proud of him and his good choice.
We all had such a great time celebrating Kathleen's birthday. And the best part was, the party was just starting! We'd planned a big birthday barbecue for Kathleen at my house on Saturday, so the fun was just beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment