You Know You're The Parent Of A Child With Diabetes When...

You know you're the parent of a child with diabetes when ...

1. You grab the meter after cutting YOURSELF - that big drop of blood's just too perfect to waste!
2. Everyone in the family comes to you to test their kids just to make sure.
3. You test your non-D child whenever she begins drinking too much.
4. You don't care about the nutritional content of the food you're buying, just how many carbs per serving it has!
5. Your child is cranky and you ask "are you high?" and you don't mean drugs!
6. You're proud when your 3 year old can 'aim' to hit the ketone test strip.
7. You can't let your kid take an afternoon nap without first checking for a low.
8. You've forgotten what the phrase "good night's sleep" means.
9. Instead of whispering "sweet nothings" to each other in the middle of the night, you and your spouse are talking about blood sugar numbers.
10. You sneak into your child's room at night just to make sure they are still alive.
11. You are afraid to give them the freedom that you gave your other kids because "something" might happen.
12. You clean the lint trap of your clothes dryer and find a bunch of test strips.
13. "Let me shoot you up" has a whole new meaning for a teenager.
14. You glance at the digital thermostat, which reads 68, and immediately run for glucose tabs.
15. You look at all children's wrists to see if anyone else is wearing a medic alert bracelet.
16. You and spouse play "guess the carb count" and keep score!
17. You get suspicious looks from the cashier at the store when pointing out the "free" gum to your child.
18. You base your entire self-worth on your kid's last A1C!
19. You've ever accidentally used Cake Mate as lip gloss (and it was green!).
20. Your spouse, you and your child place wagers on what the blood sugar test will reveal.
21. There are test strips EVERYWHERE -- in the beds, under the beds.
22. You look into your purse (now a back pack), and there are no longer brushes or makeup. It looks more like the doctors little black bag.
23. You can't look at a plate of food without counting the number of carbs.
24. You get up at 3 a.m. with the baby (non-d) and check her blood sugar before you give her a bottle.
25. You realize just how nuts you look when you dip the ketone/glucose stick in a soda just to make sure that it is diet.
26. It takes you three hours to go grocery shopping, because you are checking every label.
27. Snacks are divided up into Baggies with carb counts written on them in black magic marker.
28. Your husband's beeper goes off and the first thing you check is the insulin pump.
29. You are able to set up the meter and get the lancet into the device half asleep with only one eye open.
30. Your child has gone away for camp, and you start dreaming that you are the one that needs shots and blood checks.
31. Test strips are everywhere! You know your child was somewhere because you found a test strip in the dirt by the garbage can, not to mention under the couch, bed, rug, car seats, etc.
32. In a last ditch effort to get the carbs in, you consider a cupcake to be a food group.
33. Your child doesn't want to wake up early on a Saturday morning it sends you into a tailspin looking for the meter. Previously, you would take this time to enjoy a few cups of coffee and the peace and quiet.
34. Your child falls asleep on a road trip and you wonder whether he's low or just tired.
35. Your non-D toddler comes and tells you her pump has come unclipped to get attention.
36. You're on a first name basis with the nurse at your child's school.
37. Your son's report card from school says that he has learned to manage his diabetes well during the second semester.
38. You can't find a measuring cup.
39. Your child with diabetes eats more candy than the rest of your kids do, and it for his/her own health.
40. Your back hurts from your purse being so heavily loaded with carbs and diabetes supplies.
41. You get at least one good night's sleep in a month because you forgot to set the alarm for 2 am.
42. You hand out glucose tabs to the neighbor kids instead of candy treats.
43. Other parents contact you to find out how you get your kids to drink more water than pop.
44. You encourage your child to eat candy to bring them out of a low and then say, "You want a sandwich?"
45. You have syringes in your purse that fall out when you pull your wallet out and get VERY funny looks. (REALLY a riot when you are showing ID to an officer!)
46. Your child asks if breast milk is sugar free for the baby.
47. People think your child gets bit by chiggars a lot on their arms from testing blood sugars.
48. You tell your child to "check their sugar" and the kid next to them starts pulling candy out of their pockets to show how much they have.
49. The latest styles and designs in kit bags are more exciting than purses.
50. You tell someone your child's blood sugars and say they were high or low and they give you a look like "Oh yeah?" and then you realize you have to explain what the norms are.
51. People don't understand when you get excited about a new diabetic product and can't wait for it to come in more than a new house, car, etc.
52. Halloween consists of weighing the bag of candy to get an estimate of dollar worth in exchange for the treats.
53. Holiday's consist of getting candy that will keep to treat lows.
54. Your non D child says they are low to get candy too.
55. Your non D child says they are low to get out of doing something physical (cleaning a room, etc.).
56. Your child asks, "When am I not going to have diabetes anymore?"
57. The top shelf in the refrigerator door is reserved for bottles of insulin instead of eggs.
58. You have a list posted on your fridge with 20 different phone numbers to call "In Case Of An Emergency."
59. You have the symptoms of hypo and hyperglycemia posted prominently in your home.
60. You know what glucagon is and what it does.
61. You refill prescriptions for strips and insulin just as soon as your insurance will let you, just in case!
62. You supply the neighborhood with sugar free popsicles.
63. You supply the neighborhood with flavored water.
64. You are always handing 1 oz snacks out to your child's friends.
65. Your teenager says "I've been really high today" and she means blood sugar!
66. I'm out with the boy I wear a "fishing" vest. Lots of pockets loaded down with test kit, glucose, glucagon, snacks.
67. Your car is full of food and juiceboxes, and your pocketbook too!
68. You know more doctors than your grandmother.
69. People ask your advice on the best pharmacy in town.
70. You lay awake at night wondering if those three glucose tabs you just gave him are going to rot his teeth.
71. Your year is broken up into endo visits every quarter.
72. You know which tech at the clinic can draw blood for an A1C with very little pain.