Today is November 9th. Which means it's D-BLOG DAY! This year, diabetes bloggers far and wide are encouraged to choose a media outlet, and write them a letter.
And guess what?
I'm choosing YOU!
I know! I'm excited too!
You see, I love your monkey.
Coco is awesome.
But that's not all. I love Oliver, and Justin, Allie, Tim, and Roger too.
Basically, I *LOVE* that you have created these book characters. They're all living -- AND WINNING AT LIFE -- with Type 1 Diabetes.
I love that you have AN ENTIRE SECTION on one of your websites devoted to Type 1 Diabetes, and you've enlisted the help of REAL MOMS to help shape the information you share.
But.........
There's one small thing.
It's just that, well, I haven't really seen Coco and her diabetes on TV or in your parks. My youngest daughter just started kindergarten, marking the end of a nine year stretch that I've been watching your preschool Disney programming with my girls. My oldest daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2005 -- so that's SEVEN years of Disney shows that have concurrently lived with diabetes in our home.
You see, we can't pick and choose when to keep diabetes in our lives. It's there. It's ALWAYS there. I can't even tell you how many of your shows have been interrupted to deal with a blood sugar issue. The number of juice boxes that have been slurped while dancing with your characters must be some sort of a record at this point. At one time it was JoJo's Circus, and now it's Shake It Up. She's grown up with you....and, regardless of the program, her diabetes is still there.
I think it's time for Coco's diabetes to be there too.
Thanks for listening, and keep up the great work!
Check out other D-BLOG DAY posts HERE.
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good post, and I forgot about JoJo's Circus, I used to love that show when Stasia was little.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I goto the Disney theme park, I always ask the same question- as a PWD, where can I find Cocoa the monkey? The "cast members" always ask who this is, and then I educate them on the Disney character.
ReplyDeleteKeep asking. Maybe someday we'll get rewarded. I really look forward to getting a photograph with this t1 monkey, and to have her sign my autograph book!
No to be picky, but I'd also love it if Coco could say more than just Eeekk! A little self-advocacy with her friends would go a long way!
ReplyDeleteI would love for the books to be available in Canada! My daughter is 6, and I haven't found any good, age appropriate books with characters she would be familiar with. I even had some Lily reps check it out for me, but they didn't even know what I was talking about.
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