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I so agree. Our kids have to learn to live in a world that is not free of the foods they are allergic too. We cannot always protect them, they have to lear to do this themselves. My daughter never wanted to miss out on something because of her food allergies. she either ate before going, or brought someting safe with her, or simply said no thanks. We didn't ban milk, pizza etc. in the class room, she had to learn to live with this. She wanted to learn to live with it. She told me, that if I would have been over protective or prevented her from doing things she would have resented it and would not have know how to protect herself in different situations. We always talked about different situations and I helped her decide how to deal with them safely.
I too am one to go overboard. It's a fine line between making and bringing extra food where it's needed for parties and picnics and going crazy to always call ahead to make a mock version of every single thing on the menu.
I was always one to try to make exactly the same desserts without milk,egg and peanut for her and now I got to where, I keep some safe cookies or cupcakes in the freezer. My daughter knows she'll have a safe treat that she likes and she can cope with it not being identical.At least this way, she will learn something that she can do later in life if she wants to.
Thank you for reminding me to instill confidence and hope in my daughter!
I agree that we shouldnt go overboard. Soon enough our teen or tween will be faced with situations where she has to fend for herself and make do with one or two food items or even nothing when there is nothing safe available. Better for them to be prepared for these situations. I also agree that kids take their cue from the parents attitudes.
Oh, I've struggled with this. I thought we were cruising along until another mother told me about baseball games at Wrigley with a peanut allergic son (like mine.) And, I learned that I had been dangerously casual. As a lawyer, I had assumed that food manufacturers with decent legal departments would ALWAYS put warnings about potential contamination. Then I learned that 7% of all food with such labels ARE contaminated. Oh, I am still putting that toothpaste in the tube. It is a constant struggle. How much would I blame myself if he were too casual somewhere and died because of it?
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Thank you so much for sharing. I often think that I going thru this alone. He is a good kid and he is aware of how serious is allergy is. I think he just knows it is better to be safe then sorry. But you can always tell when he sad because he is some how left out on certain things. But he says it's okay mom. Which just break my heart. I sometimes think he takes it better than I do.
Cicero, NY