If my diabetic son goes to a birthday party or trick or treating on Halloween, is it all right for him to break his diet just this once?
Think how many "just this once's" that would make in a year. Before long, just this once becomes an everyday occurrence and bad habits are established. Your son's health and maybe even his life expectancy are diminished. It's hard to see your child deprived, when other kids are loading up on goodies maybe it's even harder on you than on him but diabetes is going to be with him all his life. Now is when the lifetime behavior patterns are established. You're not being kind when you let him break his diet just this once. One thing you can do on occasions when your child is being deprived is figure out some way he can get extra attention. Attention is an even more satisfying commodity to the young (or the middle aged and old, for that matter) than ice cream, cake, and candy. Let him pass out the forbidden food to others in much the same way that some alcoholics like to act as bartender at parties. You can also give more parties at your own home. That allow...