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Going to Crayola with our Type 1 Four Year Old

Going to Crayola with our Type 1 Four Year Old

The area in Pennsylvania we live in is filled with amazing things to do. There is a ton of history in this area and there are a lot of manufacturing plants and businesses that you would never know that are from our small town unless you lived here.

One of those places is Crayola.

Crayola has a few different warehouses in the area and their Crayola Experience which is in downtown Easton, PA. This Crayola Experience is an interactive 4-story adventure. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.

Not our First Time There

We have been to the Crayola a few times before, but going after our daughter’s diagnosis was going to be a bit different. At the time of writing this blog post, we have been to Crayola with her twice.

Once as a family and then once with just my wife and her while I drove around town with a sleeping baby in the car. Crayola was our daughter’s choice for her reward for getting her bloodwork labs done (in which she passed out and scared the hell out of us, but that’s another blog post!).

The first time that we took her to Crayola after her diagnosis was for her 4th birthday and we did not have a Dexcom or Omnipod yet, so we were checking quite frequently. Looking back on these things we did before having a Dexcom, I don’t know how we did it. I mean, I know how we did it, because we could do it again if needed, but the constant thought of not knowing what her BG is without easily being able to just look at our phones makes me nauseas.

The second time we went to Crayola Experience, it was just my wife and our daughter and that time she was wearing a Dexcom and Omnipod, so it was a lot easier to manage. Except for the fact that she passed out earlier in the day from getting her blood work done and over-correcting her and her BG shooting up into the high 400s.

Keeping Dexcom Phone within Range

There are a ton of things to do within Crayola Experience which means there is a ton of excitement which means blood sugar drops!

One of those fun, amazing activities is the 2-story high indoor playground. Can I just say now that this thing gives me ajida (I have no clue how to spell this word because I never heard of it until I was about 25 or so anyway).

There’s a few reasons why, but one, my kid is pretty clumsy and I know she’s going to fall or trip on something inside the playground, which is just part of growing up, but I hate watching it happen.

Also, I have been freaked out by germs before Coronavirus. I understand that there are germs everywhere in the Crayola Experience, but when she’s inside the playhouse thing, I can’t control her using hand sanitizer or not touching her face and mouth.

The next reason is Dexcom sharing. We didn’t want to put the Dexcom in her pocket or even in the little fannypack thing we have from SPIBelt.

I didn’t want to take the chance of it falling it while she was playing and not knowing and another kid picking up an iPhone and walking away with it. So, for that reason, my wife was standing as close to the playground as possible to make sure that we would not lose connection.

Some people may be reading this thinking that we are a bit obsessive over the Dexcom, and you are 100% correct. If I have the technology and she’s wearing it and going through the process of it getting inserted, then why the heck would I not utilize it at all times?

Some people may be reading this thinking that we are a bit obsessive over the Dexcom, and you are 100% correct. If I have the technology and she’s wearing it and going through the process of it getting inserted, then why the heck… Click To Tweet

Packing Juices and Snacks

Crayola Experience does not allow any food, drinks or snacks inside. We always carry a doctor’s note with us for situations like this. They searched the bag and allowed us to bring in juices and some candy. One thing they will not let in is peanut butter. Luckily, none of our snacks are peanut butter related.

The first time that we went to Crayola after her diagnosis, which was without a Dexcom as I mentioned previously, when we checked her she was right around the low 100s, so we knew she was going to need something soon. This was getting very close to lunch time so we were hoping we could finish the current activity we were doing and just have her eat lunch and potentially not even need a bolus.

That didn’t work out. She went even lower and we had to check her BG again and had to give her a juice. Luckily, we were able to bring in our own juices. I didn’t see any vending machines anywhere around, other than at the cafeteria which was nowhere near where we were.

Our entire goal is to make sure that our daughter can do everything she would have done before she had diabetes. Since she has been to Crayola before she was diagnosed, we didn’t want this trip to be any different. This time was actually better for her, she got to have a juice in the middle of the trip when the last time she wasn’t allowed to have any juice or snacks brought in!

Our entire goal is to make sure that our daughter can do everything she would have done before she had diabetes Click To Tweet

How do you prep for doing fun activities like this?

Do you carry a doctor’s note places that don’t allow food or snacks in? Or do you just say my child (or myself) have Type 1 Diabetes and I need to bring this in?

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