The Diabetic Pony

May 2012

September 2012

While I was making dinner and thinking about what I would write about this evening, Brett was sitting on the toilet singing, "Mary had a little poop, little poop, little poop.  Mary had a little poop to poop poop poop poop pooooooooop!"  Sigh.  Boys love to talk about all of the body parts and their functions.   Shortly thereafter was the ritual scream about bringing him some water and fiber gummys to help the process along.  Considering we never deliver I'm not sure why he keeps asking.

I spoke to a friend of mine who also happens to be a vet.  She informed me, from my description, that I am fattening my pony and he is likely to become insulin dependent.  "Hello everyone, meet my diabetic pony, Charles!"  The former statement is NOT how I want my pony to be known, but I am doing an excellent job of growing him to an obese weight.  I like to say I've done  "pony" backwards.  I got a pony and then learned how to have one.  This situation is likened to having children; give birth and then figure it out.

In my family we often felt loved through the sharing of food.  Meal time and eating was directly connected to the amount of love being handed out to each one of us and it is for that very reason my pony suffers from fatness.  He responds lovingly to food and comes trotting over to be fed when he knows I'm heading to the barn.  I love him very much and therefore I feed him.

I think I even do this to my children.  "Hey kids, let's go to Dairy Queen for a delicious treat!"  "How about a candy treat since you've been so good."  "You have been extra good all week so let's celebrate by eating at your favorite restaurant!!"  You get the idea.  Food is a very easy way to reward the people you love for good behavior.  Unfortunately, food is a terrible thing to reward yourself especially if you don't want to struggle with your weight for all eternity.  Reward yourself with a smile in the mirror, an extra two minutes in the shower, or maybe an extra crunch in your abdominal workout.

Come to think of it, yesterday after the shot disaster my children wanted a surprise.  They would've settled for ice cream, but I resisted.  No treats!  Especially no treats for screaming children who survived the flu shot disaster.  I might consider getting my child a treat if they do not cry, resist the shot giver, or make a scene.  In short, a treat for NOT embarrassing me.  I'm so excited to know that one day when they are older and we are at the doctor for some reason or another I will throw a huge fit and embarrass them and then ask, "Do I get a surprise?  How about a sticker?"  Although I will enjoy this wild display of hilarity, I will avoid peeing in my school carpool line like my son did when he was two because, well, he was two.  I'm sure many of you do not agree with my parenting strategy, but I'm almost so excited about throwing a fit at the doctor's office I might have to do it sooner rather than later.  Maybe I will do it every time we go to the doctor!!  YES!  Ok, no.

Wait, I think I just went off on a tangent!  So let's get back to the heart of the blog today.  Don't overfeed anything, but especially not your pony.  Although it seems like they love you more, they really will love you the same if you feed them in moderation.  Hmmmm MODERATION.  That is an entirely different blog post.  Maybe next week.