Explaining Diabetes to the Kids
Stef's Story. 
I have been T1 diabetic for 24 years (diagnosed when I was 15). I have the same struggles as any other mother who works part-time, is President of the PTA , has 4 boys and suffers from "bi-polar" diabetes. I realize the part that separates me from the other "soccer moms" is the 4 boys (OK, it is really the diabetes). I know what it is like to live with diabetes; my goal is for my children not to have to "live" with my diabetes.
Diabetes is obviously a major "topic" (for lack of a better word) in our house, but I feel the need to shelter the boys sometimes not to scare them. Being asked by your 5 year old son at the dinner table if Mommy is going to die in her sleep from low blood sugar, now that's a reality check!!! No five year old should be worried or thinking about that. He should be worried if SpongeBob is going to be on TV that night! I try not to have them "live" with the disease but obviously at times they have to. My children know what diabetes is, the difference between my moods with highs and lows, and that diabetes at times really frustrates me, but how do you explain living with diabetes to a child???
have found a test strip (STUCK TO THE BUTT OF MY CAT)? Or dancing at a formal dinner and having your pump slip all the way down your dress and looking like you just gave birth to an insulin pump! Or coming back from a low and needing to get your children dinner before karate, baseball, play dates etc. and driving to a fast food place (after my BS was above 100) and forgetting to place your order and just driving right on up to the pick-up window. Then listening to your children explain to their friends "their mom's diabetes"! That is the hard part!-- Stef
Editor's Note: Stef is known at Six Until Me as the "Diabetes Fairy." :)
