As of February 1st, Luke is 12. A sixth grader. Shoot, in just over eight weeks, he’ll be a *gulp* seventh grader. With the honor of being a junior higher, comes the honor of gaining independence & responsibility. We’ve really been working hard on this responsibility thing. We cut him a little slack after he was diagnosed because- holy cow- having Type 1 is a huge responsibility in and of itself.

Now that his Type 1 responsibilities have become pretty routine, it’s time we start working on normal sixth grade responsibilities. Like keeping his room clean.

Not too bad. You can see most of the floor… this is a huge improvement. (Baby steps… baby steps…) He also put his two baskets of clean, folded clothes away. And I didn’t ask him to do any of it!

Next thing I know, he is putting the leash on Finn to take him to the park. The park is only two-ish blocks from our house. It’s not far at all. I suppose if Luke wasn’t diabetic, I wouldn’t think twice about it. (Who am I kidding? I still wouldn’t like him going by himself.) But this non-working-pancreas thing gives me a whole ‘nother thing to think about when Luke is off to show how independent he can be.

“What’s your blood sugar?”

I feel about 84.

“Do you have sugar with you?”

Yes, mom.

“Do you have your phone?”

Yes, mom.

“What about your Dex?”

Yep, it’s in my bag. I was out of range because I was in the basement, but it’ll register soon.

Well, what else can I do? The kid is prepared. He’s 12. He’s walked the dog to the park by himself before. He’s awesome at feeling low blood sugar. And I can spy on not only his blood sugar, but on him, too… thanks to the stalker app, er, I mean Find Friends app.

Well, guess what? He walked Finn to the park all by himself, let him swim in the pond, walked all the way back home…

and I had no idea what his blood sugar was the entire time.

You see, for some reason Dex didn’t recover from being out of range until he got back from his walk. (ACK!) Not only did Luke prove that he can be trusted with a little independence physically, he proved he can be trusted to be independent with his diabetic care, as well.

Man, we’re lucky to be the parents of this responsible & independent twelve-year-old.