It happened again today. I took Daughter to a family picnic sponsored by our respite provider. When we got to the drink table, they didn't have anything to drink that was sugar free. I understand some people do not like artificial sweeteners. That's fine. For others, though, calorie laden drinks full of sugar are not an alternative. Daughter would easily have used her entire carbohydrate allowance for the meal just with the drinks they were offering. If you don't want to provide something with artificial sweeteners, at least have water available. When I asked for water for her I was informed they didn't have any bottled water. She can drink tap water, but she needs to drink something, and sweetened ice tea and lemonade are not alternatives for her.
The sad thing is, I know that Daughter wasn't the only diabetic there today. She may have been the only one with accompanied by a Mama Bear who insisted they go in and get her cub some water, though.
I wish this were unusual, but it's not. To further complicate things, Daughter can't have caffeine because of her seizures. Try finding something that is both sugar free and caffeine free when you're out to eat. Daughter can name the restaurants that have sugar free and caffeine free drinks available. Most often when we ask, the server thinks we're crazy.
I've paid full price for a cup of shaved ice with no syrup on it at the fair. Once again, the teen selling the shaved ice thought I was crazy. It was a hot day, they didn't have any sugar free syrup, and Daughter needed something to cool her down.
One place didn't have anything that she could drink, and they wouldn't even give the poor kid a cup of water. By the time I learned this, I'd already paid for our food, so we ate quickly and I went elsewhere to get her some water to drink.
With the epidemic of obesity in our country, you'd think that more places would begin to provide low calorie alternatives to sugar laden beverages. It hasn't happened yet, at least around here. I'm beginning to understand why Crystal Lite offers those single serving packages you can take with you to add to water. Next year when we go to this picnic, Daughter and I will take our own beverages. Unfortunately, that won't help the other people struggling with diabetes who might attend.
The sad thing is, I know that Daughter wasn't the only diabetic there today. She may have been the only one with accompanied by a Mama Bear who insisted they go in and get her cub some water, though.
I wish this were unusual, but it's not. To further complicate things, Daughter can't have caffeine because of her seizures. Try finding something that is both sugar free and caffeine free when you're out to eat. Daughter can name the restaurants that have sugar free and caffeine free drinks available. Most often when we ask, the server thinks we're crazy.
I've paid full price for a cup of shaved ice with no syrup on it at the fair. Once again, the teen selling the shaved ice thought I was crazy. It was a hot day, they didn't have any sugar free syrup, and Daughter needed something to cool her down.
One place didn't have anything that she could drink, and they wouldn't even give the poor kid a cup of water. By the time I learned this, I'd already paid for our food, so we ate quickly and I went elsewhere to get her some water to drink.
With the epidemic of obesity in our country, you'd think that more places would begin to provide low calorie alternatives to sugar laden beverages. It hasn't happened yet, at least around here. I'm beginning to understand why Crystal Lite offers those single serving packages you can take with you to add to water. Next year when we go to this picnic, Daughter and I will take our own beverages. Unfortunately, that won't help the other people struggling with diabetes who might attend.
No comments:
Post a Comment