On her own

M attended the local public school for her freshman year, and it seemed to go well. The nurse was very thorough, sometimes to the point of being invasive. M enjoyed the nurse and her assistant, however, and the relationship was fine, even if the nurse would seem to want to give a little too much input about M's care.

Because the nurse was at a public school, she needed to be sure that all of the "t"s were crossed and the "i"s were dotted, which often left me looking like an incompetent parent.

You see, since my kids spent most of their lives in private schools, the mountain of paperwork I was required to fill each year for the public school seemed ridiculous.

I think I had a little subconscious rebellion against it too, because I would unwittingly submit incomplete paperwork. There would be a signature missing on one form, the double sided form had only one side filled out...you get the idea.

Anyhow, halfway through her sophomore year, M decided that she might meet with better success at the same private school attended by her brother.

The nurse at the public school diligently forwarded her forms to the private school, only to be met with indifference.

There is no nurse a M's new school.

There is a designated adult to deal with the storage and administration of medicines for those students who have chronic health problems, or perhaps those on medication for their ADHD (Is that considered a chronic health problem? I wonder.)

So my attitude had to shift again, toward taking on more responsibility as a family.

Honestly, it was kind of a relief.

I wrote my standard "Greetings! This is what diabetes is, and how it will likely affect you and your classroom" letter. Shortly afterwards, I received a letter from the dean of students, letting me know that all of M's teachers had met to go over my letter, and had been instructed to contact me with any questions.

I was never contacted.

Weirdly enough, when M's parent/teacher conferences came up, no one even mentioned her diabetes, because she was doing fine. Her blood sugar had been pretty even, and her grades were pretty steady. He behavior was good ( you know, for a teenaged girl), and she was making friends.

But I guess it didn't surprise me that much.

What I have learned about my daughter is that she will rise and sink to suit the occasion. In this case, she was treated like a responsible young adult, who is able to monitor and control her disease independently.

And guess what?

She is.