Preparing for the storm

Thursday
I am at the office
Jeff texts me
School closed tmrw, Nemo
K
Please pickup all 3 boys
Going to board meeting
K
Then the ever prepared Jeff
Gives me the French toast storm warning
Pls stop at store on way home
Pickup
Milk, bread and eggs J
K

Leave office at 5:00

Pull into school pickup lot
Boys jump into car
Thrilled
Thrilled there is no school tomorrow
Start debating
Who gets Xbox first
I interrupt
We need to stop
At supermarket first
In unison
All three
*Sigh*

Once arrive at Shaw’s

Grab a cart
Then warn boys
“Don’t bug me.
We are here for
Milk, bread, and eggs
ONLY.”

No one heard me

We walk through bakery

Impossible to avoid
Ben’s eyes light up
When he sees a Valentine's display
“Can we get cupcakes?”
“NO”

I point the shopping cart straight

Head for milk refrigerator
But to get there
We walk through cereal aisle
I HATE the evil cereal aisle
Decide will need to
Speed walk through
Maybe the boys won’t notice

“Pop tarts!”

“Mom can we get Pop Tarts?”
“NO”
“Why?”
“Because”
“Don’t you care what we like?”
“Matter of fact, NO”
“Don’t you love us?”
“YES”

I don’t slow down

Still speed walking
Soon I have lost
All three boys
This just might be a good plan
Finally reach milk!
Alone
Grab a jug
Turn the corner
Grab a loaf of bread
Finally reach eggs
Still no boys

Head toward registers

Turn corner
All three boys
Block the aisle
Ask
“Where did you go?”
Nonchalantly reply
“I was shopping”
Skip the hiding part

Now walk by frozen food aisle

Ben begs
“Can I get some ice cream?”
Feel a little guilty
I did just abandon my children
I finally break
And say
“Ok”

Ben and Cole grab the shopping cart

Rush down freezer aisle
Stop in front of freezer with
Mini-pints of ice cream
Ben loves these
Individual size
No measuring
Carbs labeled on side
Easy

The boys start throwing

Little pints of ice cream in cart
“Four fudge brownie”
“Four vanilla”
“Four cookie dough”
“No four more cookie dough”
Cole exclaims
“Dulce de Leche!”
I then yell
“Stop!
That’s enough”

They look at their mountain of Ben and Jerry’s in cart

Shut freezer door
As the boys head back down aisle
Another mother from town
Interrupts our madness
And says
“Hello”

I pause and respond

“Hello”
She then continues
“I was told I should talk to you”
Hmmm
“Really?  Why?” I ask
“My son was diagnosed
With Type 1 diabetes last fall.”

“Oh … I am so sorry!”

We then chat a little more
The boys wrestle in front of freezers
She mentions
“My son won’t go out to eat
At a restaurant”
I assure her
Dining out for the first time
With T1
Is a big hurdle
For everyone
Always a challenge

Boys wrestling

Now becomes distracting
Certain I am raising
Wild animals
And not human boys
We say our goodbyes
I encourage her to call me anytime
Yes T1 sucks
But it will be OK!

I tell the boys

It’s time to go
We head toward the check out
The boys unload the cart
Onto the register belt
They are helpful sometimes
Though they continue
To ask for
Soda and gum
But I no longer respond
I keep thinking about
The new T1 boy
Feel sad for him

Now that we are part of the T1 club

We are often told about
A new T1 diagnosis
A middle school girl
A three year old girl
A young teacher
A 45 year old man
And now another middle school boy
And it feels like
This happens too often
Way too often

Wish we could go home

Huddle in front of the fire
With our milk, bread and eggs
(and ice cream)
And wait out the storm
The T1 storm
But it seems that storm
Will still be raging
Well after Nemo is gone

Finally I swipe my debit card

Boys put bags in cart
And I start heading
Toward the exit
And I notice I am alone
Again
Where are the boys?
I turn around
They are huddled together
“What are you guys doing?”
“Passing out gum”
“Hey!
“Where did you guys get that gum?!”
“You just bought it
But don’t worry
It’s sugar-free!”