"Have you done your test?", "Have you given your insulin?",
"Are you low?", Should you be eating that?"
Sound familiar?? Yep it's the oldies nagging again! The words may be different but nearly every teenager with diabetes deals with questions like these at one time or another.

You might wonder why they keep hassling you and just wish they'd shut up. So why do parents nag?? Parents nag because they worry. Maybe they're used to being responsible for your diabetes and now they have to hand some or all of it over to you. They know that diabetes isn't high on your list of priorities but it's way high on theirs. This may be a recipe for family arguments!!

Parents might have other feelings too, like feeling angry or upset about diabetes or even feeling guilty because you've got it. Parents don't want anything to go wrong for you and they worry about your future. This can come over as being over protective, with way too many questions, which can be really annoying!!

So how do you react? You might slam the door and storm off, try and ignore them, scream back at them or deliberately not do what you should just to get back at them. All of which can make the whole situation twice as bad and seem never ending. You'll probably find that none of these things work and they hassle you even more!

So how can you get on with the oldies and get some peace?? Some useful tips:

• Don't ignore them, answer their question, even if you think it’s annoying.
  
• Talk to your parents calmly and let them know why their nagging makes you feel so frustrated.
  
• Show them that you can look after yourself and your diabetes. It shows you're responsible and may even stop the nagging, if they think you're doing OK.
  
• Include them in your diabetes care. Discuss issues with them and maybe even ask them to help you out with stuff (e.g. an overnight test, adjusting insulin doses, sick days) so that they still feel involved, trust you and understand that you're doing your best.
  
• Focus on the positives - your parents care about you and want you to be healthy.
  
• Talk to your parents about picking a “nag time” every other day when it’s OK for them to check in and nag - at least it won’t be all the time!
  
• If you can't deal with it, sit the oldies down and say something like "When you keep going on about blah, it makes me feel blah".