Once the weather becomes cooler is when I come out of the house. I enjoy the summer, but I hate going to the playground when my son can not even go down the slide because it is too hot. Well, the first nice cool day, we went to a local park to get some fresh air and exercise. We first took a hike through the woods to look for some of the signs of Fall. I am in love with the colors all around during this season. After our hike, we headed off the the playground. The playground has two sides- one for toddlers and then one for older children. The MM loves those sit on giant spring things on the toddler side. He then went over to the large equipment. We were having a great time. There were a few little girls playing and they were also eating a snack. Of course like any other 2 yr old, the MM went up to one of the little girls and asked for a cracker. I told him he could have snack when we got home. Then..... I realized the girls were eating peanut butter crackers!!! AHHHH!! I told the MM to go and play as in my head I am completely panicking!!! I have been teaching him not take snacks from anyone without asking me, but you never know. I was a mess. Do I take him to the other side of the playground? Do we leave? Were is the Epi pen? If something happened do I run to the car and get the Epi pen or do I carry him with me? Doesn't that mother know that there are kids with severe peanut allergies? I was also trying to calm myself down. It will be ok!! Well after about 10 more minutes, it was time for us to leave. Luckily we had been there for awhile and the MM did not protest, it was time to go home and a peanut free lunch :)
When we got home I reflected on the situation and my reaction. What I really learned is that not everyone is aware of allergies. It is not realistic to think that everywhere we go people are going to think "is this snack safe for all children?" I think that this is just still very new to me and in time I will be able to handle these type of situations with a little more sanity.
I am very luck with the support I have from friends. When I go to birthday parties, I call them before we go and ask what they are having. It makes life easier to know if there will be something for the MM to eat. Friends have read ingredients for me and even have gone out of their way to make sure there is safe food.
If you have a child with a peanut allergy, please leave a comment about a situation you were faced with and how you got through it!! I would love to know also what other parents would have done and how they would have felt with this situation!!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Kerry
- I spend most of my time with my wonderful little boy (aka The Munchkin' Man). I consider myself to be an eco friendly person that is trying to improve my son's world a little at a time. In my spare time..haha.. I am a Stampin' Up Demonstrator.
1 comments:
You did the right thing (freak out on the inside, but don't let your kid see it) :) I always carry a small pack of wipes in my purse so I can wash Bella's hands if she comes in contact with anything nutty.
I also wipe her hands down after being on the playground even if I didn't see kids with peanut butter - I mean who knows whats on those monkey bars?
You're going to run into this situation alot I'm afraid, especially as your son goes to school. Horror music plays in my head when I'm on lunch duty and see how many kids bring PBJ's (our school isn't nut free, even in classes). But you learn from each situation, and eventually as we're experiencing now, your child becomes their own advocate and knows not to eat anything unless it's deemed safe by one of a handful of adults we've identified.
Also, don't leave your epipen in the car. If it gets too hot (or too cold) it renders the medication useless.
Good Luck with all of this. Trust me, you'll get used to this. It just takes a while. Let me know if I can help in any way :)
Post a Comment