Friday, August 19, 2011

Adam's Personal Snack Bar

Sigh. 

Well, my child has already figured out how to beat the system. Whenever he is hungry (which is all the freakin' time) he decides that he MUST be low...so he heads off to the health office only to find out that he's perfectly fine (or a bit high). And he just HAS to have a cheese stick.

Of course, we all know that hunger is a symptom of low blood sugar as well as high blood sugar. But where do I draw the line? He's already a 'frequent flier' in the health office due to the diabetes, but now he's there more often than he needs to be. Now, for the record, the nurse and her assistant have no problem with this...but I do. He is going to start missing a lot of class time. Is this just a maturity issue? He still cannot distinguish between highs and lows...and I certainly don't want to tell him NOT to go to the nurse.

But it's getting kind of ridiculous now that I've already had to refill his "cheese & snack" drawer a week and a half into school. My little grazer has figured out that not only is the health office a place to test his blood sugar, but also free snack time as well.

Any BTDT?

4 comments:

  1. Oh we SO know this drill over here.

    The thing is, though, that we WANT them to speak up and get tested if they feel low...it's a tricky spot.

    We've handled it by refusing the snack if her number is okay/high. Could she be crashing? Yup. It could always come back to bite us, but a cheese stick isn't going to stop her from crashing anyway, so that's the gamble we take.

    I also keep cheese sticks in the classroom (the teacher has a little fridge), and everyday she eats one at the same time...if you can identify the time of day it's happening, that makes it easier. Last year she got sick of the cheese sticks and we stopped using them. This year we've had to implement them again, but I'm guessing it won't be long before they get old again.

    I think some of the issue is just that our kids are learning how to recognize their internal cues. When they know they're in a new situation, they don't want to take chances. They want to get help before the low feels REALLY BAD, and they want to make sure everyone knows the drill. So, if they feel hungry, they tend to jump to the conclusion that it must be a blood sugar issue to err on the side of caution.

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  2. hehehe! I am not laughing at you, I promise... I am totally laughing with you :)

    Justin never went through this. Maybe because we don't offer a snack for an in range number. There is really nothing you can do OTHER than remove the snack option and have a talk with him because you just never know. We had a teacher once who was determined he was just trying to get out of class and didn't let him go when he asked... he was SERIOUSLY low. Lesson learned if you know what I mean.

    Everything will get better so hang in there :)

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  3. We didn't drop snack till third grade..maybe just plan one in? ; ) Then it's scheduled and not something he has to be low or high for?

    I know..MC is ALWAYS hungry!! Easier to plan a carb/protein snack, and move life along. I don't want to be food police. ; )
    Hope you figure it out, Steph!! : )

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  4. Oh gee, no advice here, just let me know what you decide, so I can work it into our plan for the day too! BTW, this seems VERY normal for a little boy to have figured out. Natalie does do this at home as well. It's usually when she sees someone eating something that looks good to her, then she tells me to check her because she thinks she is low.

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