A Promise to Myself

Momma's got something on her mind so she comes to her blog, where she can lay it all out there.

I am not a perfect mother.  We are not the perfect family.  We eat McDonald's more that I'd like to admit.  My kids are grounded more than THEY like to admit.  I yell.  I sometimes add some Captain Morgan to my Diet Coke at night.  Jordan sometimes ignores the kids while he plays his PS4.  My kids talk back and don't use their manner as much as I would prefer.  We are flawed ... Every one of us.  BUT ...

I love my kids more than anything in the world.  I mean it when I say that all I have ever wanted to be is a mommy and that Delanie Kae is my dream come true (and yes, Trey Thomas too).  (Please, keep reminding me of this as she has 10 years left in my house!!)  Sometimes I allow my children to drink soda, sometimes I allow my children to get a toy from the store, sometimes I spend too much money so my kids can have something like a Kindle to play or a hockey game to go to.  (Those Wings season tickets aren't cheap!!)

Where am I going with this ...??

I have often thought about being a billet parent to the Wings players.  A billet family, aka Host family, houses a player.  I love taking care of people.  It would be fun, and challenging, to have a teenage boy in the house.  I have heard heartwarming stories and have seen great bonds formed between billet families and hockey players and I have also heard some ... Well, let's just say not so fun stories as well.  After having my own two kids and having a basement full of other's people's kids all day long, my thoughts of having a player have been absent. Until now. 

Enter Trey Bagwell.  An 18 year old kid living with Type 1 Diabetes, 1,100 miles away from his parents, just "Living the dream" as junior hockey players like to say.  I've been in touch with his parents, Bob and Betty Bagwell and have asked how Trey's billet family handles the T1.   

While the family knows that Trey has T1, they don't do anything about it.  Betty's words to me were, "Trey has learned to adjust."  This, to me, is not OK.  Yes, we all have to learn to adjust to different things in life.  But your job as a billet family is to take care of the kid in your household like he is your own son.  If your own son had T1, would you perhaps make low carb meals?  Would you switch out your white bread for whole wheat bread?  Would you get on Pinterest and find low-carb recipes to make?  I would like to think the answer to all of this is "YES".  I know when my son was diaganosed the foods I bought every week at the store changed drastically.  I never in my life would've bought Agave Nectar.  Seriously.  I have it now!  Coconut flour?? Disgusting! Worse yet, coconut oil??  Barf.  I hate everything and anything coconut ... Even tanning lotion.

Let me be clear. I do not personally know the people Bags lives with. I know they have always hosted players so I am certain they are good people.  I need everyone to know I am not bashing or hating on these people.  I'm simply saying, T1 moms know T1 struggles. 

Diabetics are tough to figure out.  They pride themselves on being able to eat anything they want ... And it's true, they can.  But it doesn't mean they SHOULD.  Yes, Trey can eat white bread.  He can eat white rice and eat McDonald's and have a DQ blizzard.  He CAN ... But he SHOULDN'T.  

I also know, and understand, that if you don't live the T1 life ... You don't understand it.  You don't understand just how deadly it can be.  You don't understand what too much exercise can do or what a simple hot dog bun can do to a person.  Because you don't see the ins and outs of the disease.  That's where this mom comes into play ... I have promised Trey that I would forever educate other's.  

I need Trey Bagwell to live with me.  I would make him the proper foods to keep him as healthy as he can be.  To give him the energy and strength he needs to be a success both on and off the ice.  Yep, he is 18, a legal adult, but he also is a T1 person who needs all the support and knowledge he can get.   I Find myself wondering during hockey games "Wonder if he's high?" When he looks sluggish on the ice.  I see him come off the ice and head to the locker room to confirm my thoughts of him either being high or low, but obviously not right.  No one else would notice that.  I've gotten messages from him that he's running high or low and we bounce ideas and reasons why off one another.  We compare his numbers to my Trey's numbers.  I've given him GrifGrips of Trey's to try out and sent him links to other diabetic supply pages that he might find useful.  My brain is programmed for diabetes.  I loved making Trey special cookies tha this mom used to make him because I knew he could eat them without worrying about his blood sugar going out of whack.  I wish I could do more of it ... Because I get it.  

So I promised myself this.  If there is ever another Aberdeen Wing's player who has T1 ... He WILL live with me.  I will see to it.  There is no one that can care for a T1 kid like a T1 parent.  That's a fact.  

Thanks for reading.