One Moment While I Soap Box

Everyone is aware of diabetes, but I realize, very few actually know what it is.  So humor me a moment, while I climb up on my soap box and give you a crash course.

There are multiple type of diabetes and no one is worse than another.  Type 1 means your pancreas, an organ that produces the hormone insulin doesn’t work and it is managed by injecting insulin.  The role of insulin is to convert the sugar (carbs) in your bloodstream into energy that your body can use.  Sugar enters the blood stream from food and the sugar your liver naturally produces.  Yes shots hurts, but not much.  Yes, I can eat that cookie (as long as I take insulin) so don't police me.  No, it is not hereditary and there is nothing I can do to get rid of it.

Type 2 means that your pancreas does produce insulin, but that your body isn’t very efficient in how it processes it.  Type 2 is the most common accounting for roughly 95% of people with diabetes.  Type 2 is often heredity and is exacerbated by excess weight, age, poor diet or even pregnancy (aka - gestational diabetes).  The good news for Type 2 is that it can often be managed (effectively reversed) without medication through diet and exercise.  The bad news is that people with Type 2 must be militant about their health and what they eat if they are serious about getting rid of their diabetes.  That means no cookies or soda and yes to whole grains and gym memberships.   In some cases people need to take pills or insulin to manage the disease.

It doesn’t have to be a death sentence, but you do have to be careful about what you eat and I believe someday there will be a cure.  Until then, I am riding in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure in Napa to raise money for diabetes research.  If you would like to support me, please click here.

Thanks again for humoring me and if you want to know more, all you have to do is ask, I could go on for days J

"Messy Messy!"

My mom told me that as a baby, she could put me on a blanket in the middle of the grass and it might as well have had an electric fence around it.  I would not leave that blanket; I would not touch that grass.  I wouldn’t play in the dirt of the mud, my clothes were always immaculate.  You would think those types of aversions are a learned behavior, but starting at a very young age, I saw those tendencies in my daughter.  Apparently they are genetic; she is definitely my kid.

She will not leave the blanket
(@ 9 Months)

She is not one to dump the spaghetti over her head at dinner time.  Starting around 18 months, when she got food on her hands, arms or clothes, she would start panicking and yell “messy, messy.”  She uses a napkin to wipe her hands and face during and after meals.  She will even often wipe down the table (i.e. push the spilled food around until is covers an even larger area).

With Melody
(@ 13 Months)

She LOVES to swim, but as a child after my own heart, she prefers chlorinated pools to sandy beaches.  On the occasions we have been at a beach or a place with sand, she asks to be carried until we reach the water.  But really, can you blame her, sand is gross.  

She is extremely particular about her clothing.  Shortly after turning two, we let her start picking out her own outfits; it was easier than battling the alternative.  She is especially picky about her socks.  Either end of the seam of the sock must not touch the side of the toe.  The entirety of the seam must be on the top of her foot, otherwise, tears.  Seriously. When we put her in the car seat, if her shirt or jacket is bunched in the back, tears.  If the cuff of her pants or shirt is not exactly as it should be, tears.  If her sleeves are rolled up…you get the idea.

I am so glad (said sarcastically) I have passed on my OCD tendencies to my child.  I wish I could be mad when she goes nuts about something trivial, but usually I agree with her.

Afternoon at the Ice Capades

This weekend we took Cara to see Toy Story 3 on Ice officially completing our requirements to join the order of full-fledged parenthood. I was on the fence about going, Kevin was really leading the charge. I thought she might still be too young, that she wouldn't sit through it, that she might get scared. My mom’s advice was to go. She reasoned that one of two things would happen: Cara would love it, in which case, great, or she wouldn't and I would be right. My mom knows how much I like to be right. Here is my ‘in-depth’ analysis of the afternoon.

Pro – It started on time, promptly at 11am

Con – It was about an hour and fifteen minutes too long. Not sure what genius thought a program for children needed to go on for 2+ hours. By the end there were about 5,000 kids on the verge of a major meltdown.

Pro – Tickets were inexpensive, and by buying them only a few days before the event we grabbed great seats for half the price had we planned in advance.
Con – Once you are in, you are shelling out $12 for a small tub of popcorn that probably cost $0.50 to produce, $20 for a plastic Frisbee-like toy they demo’d before the show so EVERY kid wants one and another $20 for a random “grab bag” of toys. Seriously, that is what they were calling it. And that doesn’t count photos or face painting. Fortunately, Cara is still too young to ask for all these things, but our days are numbered.

Pro – Genius mommy thought it would be fun to ride the train to the show. We parked at a nearby station and road up a stop. The side benefit was saving on parking.

Con – All those parents parked on-site shelled out another $20 for the privilege and missed out on what was probably the highlight of our day.

Pro – The kids got to see the lovable characters they know from the Toy Story franchise.

Con – Apparently Disney couldn’t afford to pay the actual voice actors to dub the entire performance, so throughout the program Woody was played by a combination of Tom Hanks, and Joe Whatshisname as if we couldn’t tell. Also, they borrowed liberally from both Toy Story 1 and 2 to use songs and characters that had no place in the third movie. These kids have seen the movie 100 times! Don’t think you pulled a fast one Disney, everybody knows.

Other observations

They went to the trouble of introducing the evil emperor Zurg which ended up scaring Cara. Fifteen minutes in and Cara is sad and telling me she wants to go home. Buzz does defeat him, but that isn't even accurate to the movie, so not only did it scare my kid, but it wasn't even relevant to the storyline. Thanks.

And finally, at one point the space men were dancing to the Star Wars cantina music (also not the movie). How about you take that royalty money and pump it back into storyboarding. Would it kill you to put a little effort into making a program that the parents could also enjoy somewhat. This is an embarrassment to Pixar who tries so hard to appeal to parents and children alike, they should be pissed.

That all said, it was all worth it to see Cara’s face light up when the music stared and Woody glided onto the ice and I can still claim partial rightness. However, we may have been better off riding BART for an hour or so, grabbing lunch and getting home BEFORE nap time. Lesson learned.

Saturdays with the Flints

Our Saturday morning ritual all started about six years ago when we moved to Oakland.  Since then it has morphed to accommodate where we live and how our family has grown, but the joy I find in it remains the same.

Shortly after getting married, we moved to the apartment forest that is Lake Merritt.  We lived on the second floor of a three story complex facing the street so we could conveniently hear the garbage truck come by at 4am, the pride of Oakland driving around with their whistle tips (watch this link - this is actally our local news and it is a real thing) at all hours of the day or night and see right into the apartment across the street from our balcony (I never once saw them turn off their TV).

Every Saturday there was a farmers market across from the Grand Lake Theater.  Kevin and I would walk down to the market, browse around, listen to some music, occasionally buy something, but we were really there for the coffee and the doughnuts.  A little further up the street there was Peets and a Starbucks, so we had our pick.  We would grab doughnuts at Colonial Donut and then go park ourselves somewhere to enjoy our coffee, treats, conversation and people watching.

When I got pregnant with Cara, I couldn’t stand the smell of coffee; luckily we could sit outside at Starbucks while I sipped on Passion iced tea.  I drank A LOT of Passion iced tea that spring.  One year my new years resolution was to give up coffee (that only lasted until March), and even then I still drank my one cup on Saturdays.

When we moved, our ritual changed, we couldn’t really walk, but it was easy enough to drive and conveniently Al’s Donut is right across the parking lot from Starbucks.  After Cara was born she came too, first sleeping in her carrier.  When she was eating solids, I would put cheerios in my bag and feed her pieces so she thought she was getting the same thing I was eating. Now she gets her own little unglazed donut and if we are feeling especially adventurous, a kids hot chocolate.  She looks forward to Saturday morning just as much as I do. She calls the Starbucks mermaid a princess and last Saturday she requested that grandma join us for coffee. Now we are taking Bri along, sleeping in her carrier, but I know that soon enough, she will also be asking for hot chocolate and try to steal bites of my doughnut.

When life gets busy or we are out of town, I miss our Saturday morning tradition.  Over the years I have probably pumped hundreds (hopefully not thousands) of dollars into Starbucks and undoubtedly consumed more calories than I would like to think about, but it is worth it.  Part of the joy of having a family is the opportunity to start your own traditions and this is one of ours and I love it.