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My son suprisingly shows how in tune to his condition he is.

Last June, on his 4th birthday we went to Mcdonalds for his party and when I
was asking the table what they would like to order, hamburger or
cheeseburger, he piped up cheeseburger NO BUN.

At only 4.5 years old, he doesn't understand the why he has to be gluten
free he just knows he has to be.

I was cleaning up after breakfast one day and was wiping the counter that is
used for toast making by the non GF family members, referred to by Cody as
gluten people, when he came into the kitchen and found me with crumbs in my
hands.  He immediately starting yelling that I had gluten on my hands and to
wash them.  I explained that it was okay for me to touch the gluten and I
would wash as soon as I dumped the crumbs in the garbage.

I am also celiac, so he refers to us as gluten free (or guten wee) people.
He has a speech delay and sometimes he is very hard to understand, most
friends and neighbors have no idea what he is talking about most of the
time.  For that matter I sometimes just nod and say "really" after he has
told me a long and involved story.  Most times he knows I do not have a clue
what he has said so we end up in a game of charades until he gets his point
across, sometimes he must figure his mom is soooo dumb.

Life with Cody is very hard and very rewarding at the same time.

After all this I get to my point...

YES, there are days I do feel like giving up but then who will take the bull
by the horns and help my children, I have 3 kids, all attention deficit.
There are days when I feel like running away from home, then there are days
where I thank god my children are as healthy as they are.

I work full-time and people wonder why I stay up so late at night when I
have to get up so early.  The answer to that one is the house is finally
quiet so I can enjoy some quiet time all to myself, without the kids
hankering for my attention.

Yesterday as I was making GF bread, I got to wondering just how Cody will
feel when he is an adult and will have to do this for himself.  Maybe he'll
just live at home so Mom can do it for him.  But you know, that's minimum
12-14 years away and this world can change so much by then.  Maybe us
celiacs will be the majority by then and the wheat-eaters will be the
minority.  One can only wish.


Karen Bulmer - St. Albert, Alberta
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