Although overall I would say I had a good time during my adolescence, I was very depressed and out of control with the diet I needed to follow to help keep my diabetes in check. My friends, however, were very accepting of my diabetes. In fact, some of them even envied me because of this illness. I think they took their good health for granted. The hardest time for me as a parent was when Miranda was a teenager.
Every parent has autonomy issues with every teenager.
These issues become intensified when the child has a chronic illness. A parent wants to protect his child. However, this desire interferes with the child's need for independence. So the tendency is to nag the child constantly. A parent's anger and anxiety level goes up because he feels the child is acting irresponsibly.