Primary Driver

When you have kids, life becomes more precious. Their lives of course are precious, precious beyond belief; but also your own lives, as parents. You have a responsibility that must be upheld at all cost, I know that's how I felt, I'm sure that's how most parents feel.

Before we had children, Mike and I shared the driving fairly equally. When I was pregnant I felt nauseous as a passenger, which combined with the fact that I wasn't drinking alcohol and Mike was, changed the balance. I have remained primary driver ever since, largely because of my own anxieties about Mike's diabetes.

There have been times in the past when Mike has had to stop the car and test, and I've had to take over the driving because his blood sugar is low, or at risk of going low. With children in the car it's never a risk worth taking. Mike does drive, and drive the kids, and he tests regularly, runs his sugars slightly higher, takes all the necessary precautions, to know that he is totally in control. As I say, it's my own worries and anxieties that make that a rare occurrance.

This post has been written because of a conversation Mike and I had yesterday, which followed an email conversation Mike had with Matt Jones, who has commented on the first blog on this site.

It is not, I repeat, not, just me being a control freak. It is a genuine worry. Control, having said that, does come into it. There are times when Mike is not in control, it's not predictable as to when that will be, so I suppose I am always on alert, I do feel I always have to be in control. And there are those times when you are somewhere you know longer want to be, a visit that has come to an end shall we say. (Particularly relevant if you need to get toddlers out of sombody's house before they break something, or begin to play up out of boredom or exhaustion.) The last thing you want to do is find you need to stay an extra half an hour while the driver sorts his levels out. I like to be ready to take over just in case, so if wine is offered, I say no, which means that Mike might as well say yes. Lets call this a diabetic bonus. You have to make the most of them when they come along.

Jane