January 15, 2008
School projects for siblings without food allergies
You know how we parents of kids with food allergies are always trying to be a step ahead of the game? Anticipating every imaginable scenario in which we need to keep our kids safe? Well, here is a situation I never thought of. My child without food allergies needed to do a project and speech during their studies of Native Americans. I try to encourage my children to be independent, so I wasn’t too involved with her picking her topic. And of all things, she wanted to demonstrate acorn mashing. Innocent enough, until we got into it.
She prepared her poster boards and planned her speech. And then she asked if I could help with one thing: the mashing part. Since I couldn’t find any acorn trees in the area, I looked at the store. No luck. I guess people don’t eat acorns anymore! So I bought walnuts, thinking that they are easy to crack and would make a fine substitution.
I was at the grocery store buying bulk walnuts. As I was putting them in the plastic bag, I felt so mischievous; almost as if I was stealing something! I don’t think I’ve ever purchased nuts in my adult life! I brought the nuts home and left the clear plastic bag on the counter. I showed my daughters to be certain that they understood it was a tree nut. Because other than at grocery stores or other peoples’ houses, where do they get to see actual nuts? I didn’t want their curious hands exploring. I explained that they were for a project and as long as they didn’t lick the bag, it was fine (we use humor quite a bit in our family).
Even though the daughter doing the project doesn’t have food allergies, she has never cracked a nut open. To her, this was a fun assignment and she couldn’t wait to get started. She even went door to door looking for a neighbor who had a nut cracker. We cleaned off a spot at the kitchen table. She prepared her plate (I wanted to be able to put everything in the dishwasher when we finished). I showed her how to crack a walnut. Then it was her turn. As she squeezed the nut cracker together, the walnut cracked and sent pieces flying everywhere!! Ugh. This I had not anticipated. I determined the food at the other end of the table which caught much shrapnel was contaminated and must be thrown out (yeah, I am still neurotic!).
The next day she practiced her speech and nut cracking outside, smashing the nuts between rocks like the Native Americans did. Except that it was cold outside and she kept putting her “walnut infested” hands inside her sweatshirt pocket. When she finished (and I couldn’t take the cold anymore), we came in the house and washed our hands in the bathroom, because I reasoned my other daughters wouldn’t be eating in there and it would decrease the likelihood of a reaction. Then, as much I as I was trying to be relaxed about it, I made my daughter take off her sweatshirt and put it right into the laundry. I try to live like the rest of the world. But the truth is, when we’re dealing with food allergies, we can’t. Not completely.
Posted by Ann Marie at 1:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2006
What About Siblings Without Food Allergies?
We have four children. Two of them have life-threatening food allergies and we've know that since they were babies. Our other two have been free to eat any type of food we serve.
Somtimes, as a parent, I feel like maybe we are depriving the two without food allergies. Doughnuts at church? "No, they likely have eggs or nuts and your sisters cannot have them. So, it wouldn't be fair."
Now, I need to tell you that I have taken my non-food allergic kids to Krispy Kreme before. I admit its fun to see there faces light up at all the choices they have when they walk in. On the other hand, if we did that on a regular (or even semi-regular) basis, those two may look like the "average American" child and tip the scales more than kids should.
What we choose to do is to look for alternative foods that make everyone as happy as possible. Sometimes its homemade. Sometimes its a order from Cherry Brook Kitchen or another allergy friendly manufacturer. Sometime... get this... it's just fresh fruit with a small squirt of whipped cream on the side. I believe it has to do with the presentation - how much fun you have serving and they have eating it.
Posted by David at 7:19 AM