Last weekend, we went to a preschooler's birthday party. The mom had told me in advance not to worry about bringing GF food for my DD, like we usually do for parties, because she would supply special food for us. So, foolishly, I didn't bring anything except our diabetes bag, which has a few low treatments. When we got there, DD headed straight for the snacks. I asked if the potato chips or tortilla chips were GF, and the host said she didn't think so (I suspected they were, but didn't want to roll the dice). Then she said, "But we have pretzels, and those are always GF, right?" So I quickly steered DD away from the snack table. At lunch, DD ended up pecking at a little chicken salad, which the hosts had specially segregated for her. Fast forward to cake time. The family had sprung for the most elaborate GF cupcake you've ever seen, which probably cost as much as the birthday cake. I'm not kidding, it had like 6 inches of icing. At first I was really touched by what a beautiful treat it was and what a grand gesture the hosts had made for my DD to feel special; but then my heart and brain both seized up while I was trying to guess the carbs in that thing. Even though DD had had almost nothing to eat, I made her "split" the cupcake with me, and I took the lions share of it, to avoid giving DD 120 carbs of sugar in a single shot, with no adequate pre-bolus. I'm sure the other parents all thought I was a terrible piggie! Fortunately, there was so much fantastic distraction at the party that my daughter didn't focus too much on being excluded from basically all of the food goodies. But, lesson learned: No matter how sincerely well-meaning the hosts , I think we need to keep toting our own GF treats to parties and special events. I so appreciate the thoughtfulness of this family in going the extra mile to accommodate my DD, but really it's probably just easier for us and everyone else if we bring our own food. Handling these two diseases together just seems so much easier at home than out in the world!
I wouldn't think twice about what the other parents might have thought. :cwds: I eat GF but my D kid doesn't have celiac so I can only imagine how complicated it is. I think it would have also been ok to tell you DD that she would be taking 1/2 her special, just for her, cupcake home. I did that a lot when I thought school party or Bday party treays were excessive. It was partially a D mom decision but it was also just a "no one needs to eat a platefull of cookies and brownies in one sitting" Good luck!
