Lessons Learned During The Great Flood

On the last day of February break, we returned from the grocery store to find a few inches of water in the basement.  The sump pump was not pumping.   It was a mess.

It was also past noon, and decidedly lunch time.  Between the words I hope I was muttering quietly enough not to be heard upstairs, I yelled, “Don’t come down here…you’ll get soaked.  Go check.”  Meanwhile, I unplugged and replugged the pump, located the wet-vac, muttered some more.  “I’m 47,” came the small voice from upstairs.  “Find a juice box and drink it,” I yelled. “That’s what I’m doing, Mom.”  I started lifting things out of the water, or from low shelves to higher ground.  I went to the foot of the stairs.  “You alright?”  “Yeah…I’m making a pb&j, ok?”  “Yup…check again before you eat, right?”  “I know.”  I started vacuuming  water.  I jiggled the pump.  “How’s it going up there?”  “I’m 72.  I can eat, right?  I’m going to have an apple with it.”  “Yup…bolus for the sandwich and, like maybe half the apple.”  “That’s what I thought…40, right?”  “Yup.”

The afternoon proceeded with periodic yelling up and down the stairs, “you ok?”  “Yup…I’m reading.”  “I can’t wait to show you how I set up the dolls in my room.” 

“Guess what?  I just kicked the sump pump pipe so hard it kicked on!”  “That’s good, mommy.  Should I have a snack?” “Holy cow…it’s 3:00 already?  Yes.”  “I’m 140, bolusing  8 for 4 crackers.”  “Great.” 

Many lessons were learned Friday afternoon.  Some of them were diabetes-related.

My 9 year-old is capable of handling her diabetes with a greater level of independence than I give her credit for.   We’ve tried to give her increasing responsibilities as she’s grown up.  When she was 2, she was in charge of gathering the supplies for a bg check.  When she was 3, she read us the number.   She progressed to checking on her own by kindergarten, and now can program her bolus.  She can add her carbs if the food is well-labeled.   That’s where I thought it ended.  Apparently, she’s capable of independently treating and re-checking a low, adjusting a bolus because of a low mealtime bg, and keeping track of when she needs a snack. 

We’ve always been careful not to give our child diabetes responsibilities beyond what she can handle.  If she has a lunchtime low today at school, the nurse will still be there to make sure everything is done right to keep her safe.  When 3:00 rolls around this afternoon, I’ll say, ”How about a snack?”  But it does give me some peace of mind to know that should another emergency arise, where I am even less available than I was in the basement, she’ll be able to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, the plumber should be here any minute.