Diabetes in disguise.. It's the dance we have been doing for awhile.. You hear the music...You see the movement...Yet there is a desire for it to be silent...invisible.
Present - yet tucked away nicely, out of sight...
Raising kids in no picnic -- raising kids with diabetes --and we are in the season of the teenage years...almost like survival of the fittest.
It is balancing successes with mistakes. Independence with accountability. Helicoptering (is that really a word?) with responsibility.
It is allowing growth - yet maintaining safety. The teenage years is about boundaries - testing them, but respecting them. Diabetes adds an extra layer of challenge to the mix.
I wish I had more answers -- I don't. Sometimes I feel like we are getting it done - and others I am thankful we both made it to the end of the day alive.
We have never "hid" diabetes -- now we are rising to the challenge of putting a disguise on it.
Normalcy is important -- and while we are not blind to our normal may not look like your normal...it is insanely important in the teenage years that there is a sense of belonging. Looking and acting like everyone else (WHY?) I don't have to agree with it fully -- we teach being your own person....while embracing this very important element to growing up. (And hopefully out of the need to "fit in")
Does your diabetes ever wear a disguise?
