It occurred to us that Charlie doesn't get many requests for play dates from his classmates. It's not like he doesn't have friends. He gets along with everyone in his class. He's actually fairly popular. Still, the invitations to come over houses are scarce.

It makes us wonder if the parents think it would just be too difficult. Or maybe they just assume we could never just leave him somewhere without someone trained in diabetes care keeping an eye on him. Well, they wouldn't be wrong if they thought that. We want to let him do things without us hovering over him like low-gliding seagulls, but how can we? He doesn't test himself yet.

One boy has wanted a play date with Charlie at his house for a while and his mother has expressed in the past that she would be willing to learn how to test Charlie. We totally appreciate that she would do this, but there's so much more to it. She couldn't possibly understand how complicated it could be and how unstable a situation can become in a flash.

On Sunday, Susanne and I deliberated back and forth at length whether or not we could drop him off at this friend's house.

We can't do this.

Can we do this?

What if it was just one hour?

What if his blood sugar was a little on the higher side to be safe?

What if I just parked my car around the block from their house with my cell phone handy; Ready to swoop in like a Navy Seal?

We asked Charlie if he could test himself if it was an emergency.

"Sure," he said, inserting the test strip into the meter, cleaning off his finger and then pricking the side of his thumb.

Watching my 7-year-old squeeze blood from his finger for the first time was difficult for me.

He squeezed and squeezed with all his might.

He never did get enough blood out of his thumb and I ended up going with him on his play date. A low of 53 while jumping on his friend's trampoline confirmed that we made the right call.

Since I was in a testing mood, I then went and tested the mother and two of her friends at their request. An odd thing, I thought afterwards. Taking blood from strangers. Holding hands and squeezing fingertips of people I just met.

Awkward too, when they dispute my $20 per person copay requirement.