“Doing a Good Job”

Today was Rooster’s quarterly visit at the endocrinologists.   The Nurse Practitioner had nothing but good things to say about Rooster and about us, his parents.   She repeatedly mentioned that we must be great parents because Rooster has so far avoided many of the complications teens with diabetes encounter.

I do NOT feel like a “great” parent or even a “good” parent most of the time.  And if this is how I feel, how do those parents feel who aren’t doing as “good” a job?   Can we even, at this stage in the game, KNOW if we are doing “good” or “bad”?   A life isn’t a single moment, or even a bunch of days in a row….  it’s the sum total of ALL of the days.  Right?

Well, so far Rooster is managing his diabetes better than the average teenager.  So far.  He still has a few of those teen years to go, so I surely don’t see us as being off the hook.   We’ll just keep doing what we always do….  pray, talk with him about life, give him the freedom to be without us, hold his hand when he asks, pray, let him manage his diabetes himself with weekly checks from both mom and dad (amounts to checking twice a week), and let him know that he is important and valued in our family.