Communication is key for us all. It enables growth, self-confidence and drives our ability to live an enriched life. As teens transition from childhood to adulthood it can sometimes be difficult to maintain open lines of communication. But when a teen is living with a chronic disease, such as type 1 diabetes, it becomes critical to keeping them healthy.

Many teens with type 1 diabetes are often in denial. They don’t always manage their condition optimally because they just want to be normal teenagers. I interviewed Deirdre Brough, National Director, Corporate Partnerships at JDRF. Brough is a parent of a young adult who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a teen. In speaking to Brough about what life is like for parents of teens with diabetes, it became abundantly clear that friend-to-friend and parent-to-teen communication and respect can be very helpful for all involved. 

I love a morning that runs smoothly, without having to apologize to the school administrator for being late or absent! Some days, organizing breakfast, lunches and ensuring homework gets put properly in the backpack can be stressful. This is even more the case if there are sniffles, coughs, and the constant requests to stay home from school due to illness. Colds and flu put a monkey wrench into the lives of every family. The good news is that there is an easy way to reduce the disruption! In a new clinical study, children age 4 – 12 years old who took Echinaforce Junior reported 33% fewer cold and flus. Sign me up!

Breast Cancer. The unthinkable has happened.  You want to scream, cry and prey that the doctor was wrong.  But before the shock, sadness and anger has even a chance to register, your mind has already gone somewhere else: what are you going to tell your children? Let’s face it, we don’t want to hurt or upset our loved ones.  Breaking the news about a breast cancer diagnosis may be more difficult than actually hearing the news from your doctor. You may feel concerned about upsetting your family and friends and worried about how they will react. Even worse, you may be afraid that you won’t be able to answer their questions.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by First Alert. But you really should read it because the safety information could be life-changing and I really believe in helping keep families safe.

How many times have you burned toast only to have your smoke alarm scream for fresh air? And what about those dinner parties when every burner is going and you use an umbrella to bash at the button to silence the alarm whilst guests are en route and dinner becomes overdone? Maybe that’s just me. But you know what is also me? The person, in those situations, who just takes the smoke alarm off the ceiling and pops out the batteries. And then forgets to replace them and put it back up.