Thank you Ginger for joining Our Team!  Read more about her.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes, my entire family really was diagnosed, too. Dinner had to be at 6:00 p.m. so keep in line with the peaks of my NPH insulin. A new drawer in the refrigerator was set aside for "Ginger's snacks," and what I remember most is that the measuring cups were always within arm's reach so I could count my carbohydrates. (When I was diagnosed with Celiac..."spaghetti night" pretty much went out the window.)

But those are just the day-to-day details, what about the reality of watching your youngest daughter or your little sister suddenly have to poke and stab her body constantly throughout the day? What about having to watch her walk around in her little 13-year-old world knowing that for the rest of her life she'll be working to keep this insidious disease from destroying her life? Who knows what the future holds for her, really, but we know what the past has held for others who faced this disease, and sometimes it feels terrifying.

I know these things went through the hearts and heads of my parents and brothers and sisters. Especially my parents. In a sense, they were very much diagnosed with this disease, too, so as I made an effort to accept it into my life--and I mean REALLY ACCEPT IT--they needed to accept it as well.                  

 

It's almost as if one part cannot happen without the other.

 

Expecting your child to acknowledge that diabetes is a real part of their life and to accept it wholeheartedly, taking full responsibility for everything within the disease, is going to be near impossible if you, as the parents, haven't yet done this for yourself. Your child looks to you for guidance and leadership whether they know it or not. They become like you in many ways (we just can't help it!). We all take on the habits of our parents.

Just like my father, I've yelled, "You turkeys!" at disrespectful drivers...and I never liked hearing this come from him, but it still became a habit of my own overtime.

Just like my mother, I think you can never eat too many mixed nuts...a light-hearted example, sure, but I've watched my mother eat mixed nuts multiple times a day and it was no surprise that they became a regular part of my diet as well.

If your feelings and your entire heartfelt attitude towards the disease "diabetes" contains anger, fear, hate, and pity...then it will be no surprise if your child takes on these feelings as well. How can they heal from that initial diagnosis if their parents haven't healed yet either?

How can a child be expected to go from "I hate diabetes!" to "Diabetes is part of my life and I'm going to do everything I can to live an awesome life!" if their parents still hate the disease, too?

Am I asking too much of a person to expect them to not hate diabetes? Is that even possible?

In my family, we don't hate diabetes. We see it as a challenge...and if you knew my brothers, you'd know we all love challenges. We see it as a challenging inviting me to prove what I can do, to prove my strength, my resilience, my ability to take on something incredibly and live well.

What can you do, as a mother, a father, a brother or a sister, to accept diabetes as part of your world so your child can follow in your foot steps?

What is the obstacle in your thinking? How is the way you think about diabetes impacting the way your child thinks about diabetes?

It's not easy thing, what I'm asking you to do, but it is absolutely worth taking a closer look.