Sugar-free Candy and Pickle Pops

Birthday parties. They are always interesting when diabetes comes along.

C was invited to a summer birthday party for a little school friend just this week. Whenever she gets an invitation, I honestly am so grateful. Recently, I was told by a mom that she was so sorry that her daughter couldn't invite C to her party because she (the mom) thought it would be too hard on C to not be able to eat the cake and candy. Yes, that really did happen and after my initial shock, I let that mom know that C is perfectly able to eat cake! Anyways...so, yes, I'm grateful now, when she gets an invitation.

This party was at Raging Waters, not too far from our house. We met outside the gates. The birthday girl's mom sided up to me and almost whispered, "I brought sugarfree candy for C."

"Thanks," I said. "But you didn't need to do anything special for her."

"Oh, I know," she said. "I just didn't want her to feel left out."

Ug...I wished the attention wouldn't be on C like this. I'm there, at the party, to try and help C blend in and be safe. I just had to muster up a little diabetes education.

"Oh, well, she can have cake," I told her. "It was so thoughtful of you to bring the sugar free candy. What's kind of funny is, C's never had any before!" I didn't want to turn down her thoughtful generosity, but I really don't want C eating stuff like that. We've even been directed by those lovely CHLA nurses, to let her enjoy holiday and birthday treats...in moderation (as all of us should) and guesstimate the carb counts as best as we can. This was decided early on after my feeble attempt in making her first and last diabetic birthday cake with Splenda...resulting in a "brick!"

So, after that little awkward moment, the party began. C had fun with her little friends. And, I must admit, I had fun on Neptune's Fury with 3 screaming little girls!

After a couple hours of water fun, we headed to the picnic area for pizza, cake and gifts. This is where more diabetes talk ensued. One of the birthday girl's grandmothers was all over the subject. She kept talking about "pickle pops." She kept insisting how delicious they are. "They're made out of crushed dill pickles, frozen like an Otter Pop. They're backed by the American Diabetes Association. They are low glycemic. Even appetite suppressant. They would be wonderful for your daughter!"

I finally clued in to the fact that she sells them! She's a distributor...you know, multi-level-marketing! Ug.

Okay...first of all, they sound disgusting (to me). Secondly, my kid can eat nearly anything she wants. And...who in the world would want to suppress the appetite of a cute little 7 year old girl?! Give me a break! Is this what D bloggers mean by "diabetes police?" I did not say any of these things out loud. I simply smiled and nodded...and put in a couple "hmms."

She's going to send me some to try. (Smiled, nodded.)

I'm glad C got to go to a birthday party, but...pickle pops? I don't think so.