I was scolding my 7 year old for not putting his toothbrush back into the holder after he used it. His reply was "Mom, you really don't expect me to remember something when you have only told me one time?" He had a valid point. I tell him to do lots of things every day and some of them I really don't need to tell him just a gentle reminder.

I remembered what he told me the next time I meet someone who asked one of those questions that forces me to take a deep breath and count to 10. Diabetes is such a complicted illness, especially type 1 diabetes, that you really can't explain it in one conversation. It took me a number of years to learn all I needed to know to manage my type 1 diabetes, not to mention the fact that my management has to keep adapting to new technology and the new research.

To expect a person who does not have diabetes to even grasp the basics in a single conversation is, in my opinion, not possible. No matter what kind of question they ask me I need to start with the basics before I actually answer the question. I should always be patient with this person, who's support I will need in the future, for campaign for better services for people with diabetes and to spread awareness. I need to practice explaining diabetes and never get frustrated or angry with people who ask the questions or make the comments because after all they wouldn't ask or start the conversation if the didn't want to know.

I need to remember that just because I've said it before, even to the same person, that doesn't mean they've understood or they have remembered.