How to Do Easter With Diabetes in Your House

Originally published April 2019

Too many people seem to go overboard on Easter candy, in my opinion, and as a result, their kids do, too. The effects of sugar are such that if your child has any major stress happening, they might be tempted to sneak candy in when you’re not looking and this can wreak havoc on blood sugars.

Trying to dose for and cover candy doesn’t usually lead to any consistent positive results, either. Unless you’re ok with a 160 mg/dl and in that case, therein lies our fundamental disagreement.

Either way, havoc-wreaking on blood sugars is a very big deal and is to be avoided for your child’s immediate and long-term wellbeing. It’s not “ok” if it’s often happening because we’re letting it by doing things that make success highly unlikely, you know? Like, if it usually doesn’t go well, why keep doing it?

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate Easter if you do (or don’t) have diabetes in the house:

• Make a special roast or something that you don’t eat every day.
• If you’re a Christian, here’s a reminder that you obviously should know where to put your focus and this can help you avoid too much emphasis on all the other Easter activities.
• Bake a low carb treat to have after dinner. This splurge isn’t going to mess up blood sugars and there isn’t going to be a bucket of more of it tempting you or your child for the next few weeks.
• Plan a fun activity. It takes creativity, especially if you have kids of different ages (though they all have different personalities). Talk to your kids and find something the whole family can enjoy.
• Start a new tradition. This also summons creativity but it’s worth it. Kids are ok leaving behind something like typical Easter egg hunting with candy if there’s a worthy replacement. Some people stuff eggs with coins, others do erasers, stickers, and other small toys.
• Put on music.
• Bring a festive attitude–it’s infectious to your child and other family members.

Here’s what I’m considering (my kids are 9):

I am thinking about filling eggs to put around the house with numbered instructions for a treasure hunt. The kids would have to find all the eggs, put the instructions in order, and then answer riddles and questions for clues to the treasure. I don’t know what the treasure is, yet, but I think that it won’t be as fun as the treasure hunt itself, especially if it involves me getting up early to hide more clues around town. We did that once for my husband, Alex and the kids thought it was the greatest thing we all ever did. It takes effort but you gotta admit, it sounds fun, right!?

You can even plan for the treasure to end up with your church service. I’m not religious but for those who are, that sounds like an excellent idea to me! Unless it’s really early in the morning, then you’d have to get more creative, I guess, like starting the hunt on Saturday and ending on Sunday. Or the treasure could be a small gift that’s waiting at home. This works for all ages because you can make simple or hard questions and riddles and keep the locations as close to home as you want (living room or backyard is totally sufficient for very little ones).

Your kids will enjoy all this quality living that focuses on relationships, things of special meaning, and enjoying that which nurtures us and they won’t need the powerful effects of sugar to soothe or stimulate them. Yes, it’s hard with everyone doing loads of candy and chocolate but you can do different and maybe others will join you over time in tweaking the way we celebrate Easter and other food and kid-centric holidays.

We have to lead the way if we don’t like “how things are done” instead of just complaining about it all or bemoaning the consequences.