[Originally published, in a different form, in Diabetes Mine, April 26, 2014].
If you’re a parent with Type 1 diabetes, the challenges created by your malfunctioning pancreas provide ready-made tools to teach your kids valuable lessons. Yes, this disease is a burden on you and your family, it can be a cruel beast, but it also gives you a chance to be a role model.
As Kerri Sparling points out in Balancing Diabetes, T1D comes “with a certain level of perspective, as a parent, and one that offers your child a special perspective all their own.” Several parents with diabetes told her they hope the disease will have a positive influence on their kids, teaching them healthy habits and empathy, among other things.
I share those hopes for my own daughter, who is 26, and whose pancreas works just fine. But I never asked her about the impact of my T1D until recently. (more here) about Diabetes, Parenting and the Art of Trudging