Being a father of two diabetic children

Being of father of three, life can be hectic.

But when two of those three are type 1 diabetics, life takes on a whole new meaning.

You could say at this point, my wife and I have unofficial Ph.D's in Type 1 Diabetes.  When our oldest son was diagnosed in August 2001 when he was just shy of three years old, dealing with the daily tasks of diabetes controls much of our life.  Daily tasks not only include how we feed and care for them, we also have to educate others.

This past weekend, our youngest daughter--a spunky six-year-old who was diagnosed when she was roughly two and a half--was invited to a classmate's birthday.  Now, most parents would be able to drop their kid off and pick them up a few hours later.  As a parent of diabetes children, dropping them off also includes inquiring what they're going to eat, figuring out how many carbs to "punch into her pump", educating them that yes my daughter can eat everything that the other kids can eat except she has to enter the carbs into her insulin pump, setting aside her "diabetes kit", and giving the parents a number where we can be reached at all times.

This same ritual goes when our diabetic kids start school in the fall with a new teacher.  A little more time is spent educating them, giving them the "tools of the trade", and giving them a long list of numbers where we can be reached--at all times!

For parents of diabetics out there, what are some challenges you've faced?