Candied Holidays

Growing up we had 3 holidays during which we rest assured that there would be no shortage of candy.  Obviously there is Halloween with the highest candy occurrence.  In third was Christmas, yielding a stocking full.  Smack dab in the middle... Easter.  That's right, every spring we awaited the arrival of a big furry bunny who would deliver little marshmallow bunnies, chocolate coated sugar eggs, jelly beans, and all sorts of other delicious treats.  And so the traditions continue with our children in the manner that most traditions are passed from one generation to the next.

STOP!.... WAIT!.... Time out here!  So, now, here we are with the second sugariest day of the year upon us and... shoot.  Ok, let's re-think this for a minute.

Rewind to three weeks ago: Somewhere in the second week of March as I strolled into the local Wal-Mart, I was immediately greeted with a blindingly bright pastel arrangement of giant constructs of crystalline disaccharide.  Oh my, the sugar.  It's sweet stench permeated every package and wrapping to change the very air I was breathing.  A little over the top?  Ok, I'll give you that much :)

Point is, for the first time since Jonathan was diagnosed I began to have a holiday panic.  Halloween was easy.  Run the kids for six blocks until they could barely carry their bags anymore, confiscate the loot, shovel them off to bed, and voila; a new day dawned and they were none the wiser that all of the candy was in a safe place to be doled out at a reasonable pace.  Christmas was even easier.  Distract them with something to open while the stocking gets shoved behind the couch until it can be properly secured.

Fortunately for us, thus far, neither kid has been a real candy glutton.  But here we are at Easter and aside from the religious aspects (how many carbs can there be in a communion wafer?) the bunny basket is the focal point of the whole production, and it's the first thing they see in the morning.  One out of 365 days every year, chocolate is (or was) a legitimate breakfast meal.

Fast forward to the days before the event:  So far this week, we've spent one night chasing an inexplicable high that insulin just couldn't seem to fix followed by a night that we were up chasing lows after a fun evening at Kid Fit, leaving 3 days to hopefully stay in the straight and narrow before we get wacky with the bunny's booty (the Easter loot for those of you needing clarification, lol).

There is hope though.  A certain measure of comfort being found in a creative solution.  While we can't necessarily control what happens where we go to visit this weekend and we know the variables will abound, we're going to pull a fast one at home.  This year, were trading out most of the candy for an egg colouring project and some extra little toys.  A little smoke and mirrors, and hopefully some luck, the kids will be none the wiser that there is in actuality only three Kinder Eggs in each of their baskets - each one with a known carb count and on par with a normal snack.

Phew, the panic subsides a bit.  Another holiday saved and the tradition lives on.  Well, that's the plan anyway - truth be known in about 72 hours how well our new normal is working out.