If I decide to pretend to be diabetic, when should I do it?
As soon as possible. Especially if the diabetic in your life is a very young child. We think it would be a great help to see that Mommy or Daddy can take the shot, eat the diet and skip the candy, and test the urine or blood sugar. We had thought this playing at being a diabetic was a pretty wild idea that few people would be willing or able to try until we talked to a young woman who had been diabetic since the age of three. She told us that she'd had a terrible time giving herself the injections. She'd cry and cry, both before and after. Her older (by eight years) sister took it upon herself to take shots (saline solution) along with her, having races and trying to make a game of it. It made all the difference in the world to the diabetic girl in getting over her fear and loathing of the needle. She really appreciated what her sister did (especially in later years), and you can imagine what it did for the sisterly relationship. Incidentally, even long term diabetics love...