Independence and Beyond!

Have you seen the Toy Story 3 movie? 

I don't want to ruin it for those of you who have not seen it yet, so I won't give you all of the details of "Infinity and Beyond."  But the basic storyline is that Andy (the little boy from the original Toy Story movie) has grown up and his mother asks him to clean out his room before going away to college.  Really, if I wanted to ruin the surprise of these adventures of Woody and his pals, I probably couldn't.  And that is because when I think about this movie, I only remember one thing.

I remember the look on Andy's mom's face when the room was all cleaned out and he was ready to leave.  Sending a child off to college is surely a sad time for any mom and, thankfully, I will not have to face that for a few years (ok, like 10!).  But it brought up all kinds of emotions inside me and sent my rootin' tootin' brain a spinnin'!  (I don't know, doesn't that sound like something cowgirl Jessie would say? ;) 

There will be a day when Ally is ready to move out of our house.  (pause for tissues...)

(Ok, back now.  I can't even say it without tears...maybe I won't say it again!) 

When that day comes, will she be ready?  Will I be ready? 

Her father and I have taken on the pancreatic role without hesitation.  We tell her when to check her blood sugar (although, she does check it by herself).  We count the carbs for all of her meals and snacks.  We tell her how much insulin she needs to cover those carbs.  (Well, if I'm being honest, the wonderful Bolus Wizard function of her MM pump does that!)  We keep track of her exercise.  We tell her when it is time to change her site.  We change the site.  We monitor her when she has had a lot of exercise.  We decide when and what she should do to treat a low.  The list goes on and on....

I remember this summer reading  IT exists!, by Meri at Our Diabetic Life, about letting go as her 12 year old son went off to Scout camp.  I remember thinking that she was so brave and also that she has done a great job preparing her son for this day. 

And then, at The Sugar Kids Blog, celebrating with 4 year old Sugar Boy as he was Checking His Own Sugar.  I remember thinking...that is awesome!  He will be so prepared one day to care for himself.

Just yesterday, I read Still Little....Yet So Grown.... at Candy Hearts, where 7 year old Sugar was so mature about taking a role in her diabetes care when she was with a babysitter.  I was so proud of Sugar!  And then it reminded me again of my fears about my own 7 year old daughter...one day, possibly taking on the role of pancreas for herself.

I guess the best way for me to assure that I will be ready, is really to do all that I can each and every day to make sure that she is ready for that role!  I don't expect her to be ready in the near future.  In fact, it seems lightyears away.  But baby steps might just take us "To Independence and Beyond!"