Carb Counting Mama

Life with kids and diabetes

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Recent Posts

  • T1D Activity Books for Elementary School Students
  • Oskar Minkowski and a Chance Bet
  • 20+ Struggles of Parents who have a T1D Toddler
  • How to Dose for Pop-Tarts without a BG Spike
  • Bolusing for Bananas

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T1D Activity Books for Elementary School Students

Image of young boy smiling at the camera while writing in a booklet surrounded by art supplies. Text reads: "T1D Activity Books For Elementary School Students FREE printable included!"

Looking for some fun activities to add to your T1D class talk? Whether you’re celebrating World Diabetes Day, introducing T1D to the class at the beginning of the school year, or having a T1D talk when your child returns to school after their diagnosis, there are tons of great resources to help you organize your presentation. One key addition is fun T1D activity books!

Activity books are a great way for children to learn a new concept. Learning through play helps make new ideas stick. So, why not teach them about T1D with some fun!

Since it’s often tricky to find activity books on such a specific topic, I’ve decided to start creating some for the T1D community.

I’m starting with this FREE printable. It’s 7 pages long (including a Title Page and a page for the Answer Key). It’s the first of hopefully many more to come. I hope you enjoy it!

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Oskar Minkowski and a Chance Bet

Oskar Minkowski was a German physiologist who, in the late 19th century, conducted research on diabetes that would eventually lead to the discovery of insulin. As important as his research was, it’s the way in which he made the discovery that was quite peculiar. A chance meeting and a friendly bet between Minkowski and his colleague Joseph Von Mering is what changed everyone’s understanding of diabetes.

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20+ Struggles of Parents who have a T1D Toddler

T1D isn’t a pleasant thing to have at any age. You’re getting poked and prodded all the time, there are about a million decisions to make, and everything just gets a little more complicated. But there’s something particularly unpleasant about navigating T1D when your baby or toddler is the one with the disease. Here are 20 things that parents of T1D babies and toddlers have to deal with that other people with T1D usually don’t.

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How to Dose for Pop-Tarts without a BG Spike

Pop-Tarts. Not the healthiest breakfast or snack by any measure. However, they’re fun and easy to grab and go. Having a little treat now and then is nice. But at 65ish grams of carbs per pack, these little guys pack quite the punch! So, if we’re going to be having Pop-Tarts, we should come up with a solid plan for insulin dosing.

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Bolusing for Bananas

Often, people with T1D find bananas cause spikes in bg. So much so that many people stop eating bananas altogether. They are definitely a tricky food to dose for. Let’s talk about why they are so tricky, what we can do about it, and see if we can figure out how to eat them without the dreaded bg spike.

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Benedict’s Solution: Before CGM Systems and Glucometers

With CGM and FGM systems becoming the norm to manage type 1 diabetes, it can be hard to imagine what we ever did without them. At-home glucometers weren’t available until the 1970s. Knowing what we know now, it’s kind of scary to think of how people measured glucose levels before that. One of the most common ways to test glucose levels was to use Benedict’s Solution or another similar urine analysis method.

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Pray for Us if You Like

Something interesting happens when people find out that someone has an illness. When they really understand that it’s serious. That it’s stressful and overwhelming. Often, they decide to pray. While it can be a nice gesture, sometimes people don’t understand the harm they may be causing. And it’s not just because the other person might not be religious…

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Carb Factors: What are they and how do you use them?

Do you know what a carb factor is? If your answer is “no” don’t worry! Lots of people in the T1D community haven’t even heard of carb factors before. But, they can be a really helpful tool for insulin dosing. All you need is a nutrition scale and the nutritional information for your food. Don’t have the nutritional information? There are ways around that. Let’s go over what carb factors are, how to use them, and how to calculate them for your favorite recipes!

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