🎙 When You Don’t Have It, But They Do 🎙

Being the parent of a child with type 1 diabetes is a constant act of love, advocacy, and vigilance—but what happens when you’re supporting a condition you don’t live with yourself?

In this tender and empowering episode, Catherine speaks to the unique emotional space parents occupy when they’re managing diabetes from the outside. From navigating the intensity of low and high blood sugars to responding to the phrase, “You don’t get it,” this episode offers gentle guidance for showing up with empathy—even when you can’t fully understand.

You’ll hear:

💬 Why validating your child’s feelings matters more than having all the answers

🧠 How phrases like “false hunger” can be confusing for kids

❤️ What to say when your child feels misunderstood

👂 The power of “Tell me more” in parenting through chronic illness

This episode is a reassuring companion for any parent walking beside their child on the type 1 journey—without walking in their shoes.

The Diabetic Mammy is the heartfelt, no-nonsense podcast where type 1 diabetes meets motherhood, community, and a whole lot of real talk. Hosted by Catherine, a mammy navigating the highs and lows of type 1 diabetes, each episode blends personal insight with practical wisdom, offering support for parents, carers, and anyone living with or loving someone with diabetes. From tech transitions and hospital diagnoses to school lunches and stolen sleep, this podcast embraces the messy, meaningful moments that make up life with chronic illness. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned warrior, The Diabetic Mammy is your space to feel seen, supported, and never alone.

Connect with Catherine by email on catherine@abundantlydiabetes.com or reach her on Instagram: abundantlydiabetes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this raw and relatable episode, Catherine shares a chaotic, ketone-filled day that started with a hopeful run and quickly unravelled into tech fails, missing SIM cards, and rising ketones.

It's a candid glimpse into the unpredictability of type 1 diabetes—even for those who “know better.”

From insulin pump mishaps to the heavy fog of high ketones, Catherine walks us through the frustration, the surrender, and ultimately, the grace we must give ourselves.

Because some days, we’re not perfect—we’re just “good enough.” And that’s more than OK.

The Diabetic Mammy is the heartfelt, no-nonsense podcast where type 1 diabetes meets motherhood, community, and a whole lot of real talk. Hosted by Catherine, a mammy navigating the highs and lows of type 1 diabetes, each episode blends personal insight with practical wisdom, offering support for parents, carers, and anyone living with or loving someone with diabetes. From tech transitions and hospital diagnoses to school lunches and stolen sleep, this podcast embraces the messy, meaningful moments that make up life with chronic illness. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned warrior, The Diabetic Mammy is your space to feel seen, supported, and never alone.

Connect with Catherine by email on catherine@abundantlydiabetes.com or reach her on Instagram: abundantlydiabetes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this deeply heartfelt episode, Catherine reflects on the quiet, often unspoken grief that accompanies the diagnosis of a chronic condition like type 1 diabetes in a child.

Using the poignant poem "Welcome to Holland" by Emily Perl Kingsley as a guiding metaphor, she explores what it means to grieve the future you imagined, and to find unexpected beauty in a life that looks different than planned.

Catherine shares her personal journey through grief, fear, and fierce love—honouring the silent hope many parents carry, and the emotional shift that comes when life diverts course. With honesty and compassion, she acknowledges the pain of letting go, while gently inviting listeners to see the tulips, hear the music, and embrace the slower, deeper joy that can grow in “Holland.”

This episode is a warm hug for any parent navigating a life they didn’t plan for—and a reminder that you’re not alone on the journey!

See the poem, in its entirety here:-

Welcome To Holland

by Emily Perl Kingsley

Copyright©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley.

All rights reserved.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The flight attendant comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

The Diabetic Mammy is the heartfelt, no-nonsense podcast where type 1 diabetes meets motherhood, community, and a whole lot of real talk. Hosted by Catherine, a mammy navigating the highs and lows of type 1 diabetes, each episode blends personal insight with practical wisdom, offering support for parents, carers, and anyone living with or loving someone with diabetes. From tech transitions and hospital diagnoses to school lunches and stolen sleep, this podcast embraces the messy, meaningful moments that make up life with chronic illness. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned warrior, The Diabetic Mammy is your space to feel seen, supported, and never alone.

Connect with Catherine by email on catherine@abundantlydiabetes.com or reach her on Instagram: abundantlydiabetes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.