April

It's been a low energy sort of month for me.  One when I have needed Elgar and Chocolate and Sleep. Luckily it was Easter - so chocolate was everywhere in abundance.  Equally luckily it was school holidays, so we could sleep in an extra hour or two.  TD did not overindulge in Easter chocolate - she ate one treat only. Nevertheless her two weekly download of meter readings, which we send off to her endocrinologist, showed a record number of stubborn highs.  Something needed to change.  We upped the morning Lantus (long acting insulin) dose.  We tried to be more carb - clever : difficult over the Holiday Season, but nothing much helped. 

Until it dawned on me.  The problem might be that it wasn't dawning on me!  We were getting up at 7.30am instead of the usual 5.45.  My theory is that this threw out the whole daily schedule - TD was getting her Lantus too late in the morning, and maybe it was pushing all her numbers high.  It's just a theory - what do you think?  Possible? Probable?  It has been a stressed family time too, so maybe That was the cause of elevated sugars?  TD is growing - could that be the reason? Or is it just a fairly random bodily function that is hard to predict and so hard to control?  Who knows.  (Perhaps you do - in which case please share your thoughts!)

I guess what I am saying is that we simply don't know so much and yet somehow things level out.  TD's numbers are back in the usual range this week. (more or less.)  She was tired of being on a glucose high and took control in getting back on the level.  She made extra efforts to look after herself.

Sometimes I have to remember that when we are on a bumpy ride, things will eventually even out.  I also need to remember that this leveling is both a function of time and a conscious effort to take care.  I can't be completely passive, but nor can I stress about the natural cycle of unpredictability of life.

Elgar's music - particularly his cello concerto (in E minor, opus 85) speaks to me in a deeply profound way.  The tempo and mood resonate with something in the tension I feel, and externalizes it for me.  And once it is out, it can dissipate and leave me calmer.

So both TD and I are starting the week on  more level ground.  She is listening to Emo music (21 Pilots, Imagine Dragons and Panic at the Disco! - and no, I haven't heard of any of these groups)  I am listening to the Love Actually soundtrack...

But if you come to visit and hear Elgar blasting out - please bring chocolate.

TD's party

Young people often get a bad rap.  "Children now love luxury.  They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love to chatter in place of exercise."  So said Socrates around 400BCE, proving that it is a long held view.  I am always a bit bemused by these judgements of young people, as the youth's behaviour is surely the result of the environment and social skills created by the very same people who are criticising  them.  But there you have it - young people are often seen as self absorbed and under enthusiastic.  So it was with some trepidation that I heard the news that TD had close to 30 teenagers on her party invitation list.  About half I knew, as they had been friends for years - and they are all lovely, confident, caring teens.  About half are newer friends, and as always, it is the unknown that is slightly more daunting. Would the group react well together?  Would they cooperate?  Would they behave like the youth of Socrates' ancient world??

Parties are a big deal in our household.  TD chose Theatre Sports as the theme this year, and we decided to hold it on the last day of term, so that everyone could be in a holiday mood. Theatre tickets had been sent out, the stage was set, the front of house festooned in stage curtains.  Roll on 6pm.

As an initial activity, we had decided to let the party people make wooden frames (teens love wood, nails and hammers...) stretch material over the frames ( they are equally obsessed with staple guns and tacks...), find or create their favourite pithy saying and write it on their posters, and finally decorate the wall art with feathers, beads, fabrics, stickers, or any other creative materials.  They loved it - there was so much hammering and enthusiasm that, out of the blue, we were in the midst of a massive thunder storm. (Not that we can take credit for causing the storm, but the hammering and the thunder were wonderfully in sync.)  We rushed the tables inside and continued the activity.  This is the result:

As you can see the youth of today are obsessed with caring for each other, making people smile, and creating a better world. I love it that this world includes Unicorns and Harry Potter and Gucci and Fun.  The youth have a lot to teach us about the power of enthusiasm.

We played Theatre Sports after this - guessing strange personae, using everyday objects as unusual props, using words to create surprising and amusing scenarios.  There was much laughter, an abundance of happiness and a general good will and cooperation.

It was a good evening.  If you are ever feeling that the world is going to rot, invite a group of teenagers around, ask them what is important to them, get them to play collaborative games, and I am sure you will agree with me, that they are very capable of ushering in a bright, enthusiastic future.

Theatre Sports was an excellent theme for a fifteen year old's birthday party.  Teenagers are very good at inventing and reinventing themselves, until they find a self they are comfortable with.  As a modern sage, Maya Angelou, wrote: "We need to remember that we are created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed."

Good advice to remember when we feel stuck, or too grown up.