Confession Session

I have a love-hate relationship with a certain sentence. You know the one I'm talking about. It goes like this, "Mom, I have a confession to make."

I am always grateful when my kids fess up and tell the truth. It delights me that they can't keep things from me. Their confessions remind me (as if I need reminding) that they're good little people, who prefer to have a clear conscience and who believe that honesty is the best policy.

Their actual confessions, however, ugh, they're never good. Today's confession came from Madeline and Jack, but mostly Jack.

"I hate to tell you this," Jack began. "Madeline and I ate candy."

We were about to eat dinner, and Jack had just tested his blood sugar level. His meter read "HI."

"HI?" I questioned. "Jack did you eat something and not tell me about it?"

And then the truth came out. Five stinkin' gummy Life Savers shot his sugar "HI." I hate diabetes. We're talking about 13 grams of carbohydrates. That's not that much...unless you happen to have type 1 diabetes. Sigh...

"Madeline ate more," Jack continued. "She ate lots of Life Savers and some Smarties, too. I really wanted to eat more like Madeline, but I was afraid to. I thought my blood sugar would go too high, so I didn't. And look, it did. I'm high. I'm really sorry, mom."

I remember when I was a kid, I used to save my Halloween candy for months, and when I thought no one was looking, I'd sneak some M & Ms or a lollypop or whatever my stash offered. The joys of childhood! Heck, there are still some days when I sneak a cookie, and I catch Gregg reaching for the goodies we use to treat Jack's lows all the time.

Madeline eats a secret treat, and we never find out, unless she fails to toss the wrapper(s), which she often does, silly girl. (She usually hides them under her bed or in her desk drawer. I won't tell her this, but it's time she finds a new hiding place! ;) ) Jack does the same thing, but he's forced to fess up. His blood sugar level reveals the secret. I hate how diabetes has robbed him of that simple joy...not that I really want my kids eating junk, especially behind my back. It's just the whole idea. It's just another thing Jack can't do. It's just another way that diabetes affects his childhood.

"There's something else I need to tell you," Jack went on. "I flushed all the wrappers down the toilet, so you wouldn't find them. I didn't clog the toilet though."

I had to laugh over Jack's need to tell the truth, the whole truth. Oh, how I love that boy, confessions and all.