"I don't want to be different"
Last night Skip put the girls to bed. Once Charlie was asleep, he spent a little time with Emmy. He read her another story and they told jokes, as is their routine when Skip's actually home for bedtime. He was just about to leave when she started crying. Apparently she was crying about her peanut allergy. She told Skip that she doesn't want to be different any more. She asked why she can't be normal like everyone else. Break my heart!
Skip managed to calm her down and she woke up this morning without another thought about it. As kids do, she bounced back quickly. But still, my heart hurts for my sweet girl.
We try to make Emmy's life as 'normal' as possible, despite her allergy. Yes, she knows the seriousness of it and that she cannot ever have any peanuts. She always makes sure to ask if something has peanuts in it. She checks to make sure we have her epi-pen every time we leave the house. But we don't let it rule our lives. We still go out to eat and have desserts. We try to keep the adjustments to her life as easy and few as possible. She is able to sit with her class at lunch...she just can't sit next to anyone eating a peanut product. I send in a special dessert for her to have at class parties, as close to what the other kids are having as possible.
But it's still hard, for her and for us. Most of the time she is a roll with the punches type girl, and her allergy doesn't bother her. But I guess last night it just all caught up to her for some reason. I was glad when she woke up her happy self this morning and I hope these sad moments are few and far between.
Sometimes I want to cry and scream over her allergy too. Yes, I know things could be worse, but she has a deadly, life-threatening allergy. I try not to think about it, but when I do, I am overwhelmed by it all. I wish she could eat whatever she wants, to be able to have the same snack as her friends at school. I want to be able to send her to a party or play place without having to call ahead to find out what their peanut policy is. I want to stop having to read labels on every single thing we buy.
Most of the time her allergy has become routine and is barely a blip on our radar. But sometimes, like Emmy, I just want us to be like every one else. I don't want us to be an allergy family anymore.
But it is what it is, and we will continue on as always. I hope Emmy knows how very special she is and that she is just as normal as every other kid out there.
Do you have a food allergy kid? Do they get upset about their special restrictions too? How do you handle it?
Skip managed to calm her down and she woke up this morning without another thought about it. As kids do, she bounced back quickly. But still, my heart hurts for my sweet girl.
We try to make Emmy's life as 'normal' as possible, despite her allergy. Yes, she knows the seriousness of it and that she cannot ever have any peanuts. She always makes sure to ask if something has peanuts in it. She checks to make sure we have her epi-pen every time we leave the house. But we don't let it rule our lives. We still go out to eat and have desserts. We try to keep the adjustments to her life as easy and few as possible. She is able to sit with her class at lunch...she just can't sit next to anyone eating a peanut product. I send in a special dessert for her to have at class parties, as close to what the other kids are having as possible.
But it's still hard, for her and for us. Most of the time she is a roll with the punches type girl, and her allergy doesn't bother her. But I guess last night it just all caught up to her for some reason. I was glad when she woke up her happy self this morning and I hope these sad moments are few and far between.
Sometimes I want to cry and scream over her allergy too. Yes, I know things could be worse, but she has a deadly, life-threatening allergy. I try not to think about it, but when I do, I am overwhelmed by it all. I wish she could eat whatever she wants, to be able to have the same snack as her friends at school. I want to be able to send her to a party or play place without having to call ahead to find out what their peanut policy is. I want to stop having to read labels on every single thing we buy.
Most of the time her allergy has become routine and is barely a blip on our radar. But sometimes, like Emmy, I just want us to be like every one else. I don't want us to be an allergy family anymore.
But it is what it is, and we will continue on as always. I hope Emmy knows how very special she is and that she is just as normal as every other kid out there.
Do you have a food allergy kid? Do they get upset about their special restrictions too? How do you handle it?
The summer I got married I worked at a day camp as a counselor that had a large population of campers with fatal food allergies... everything from peanuts to tree nuts to dairy to eggs. One week (as the campers had the option to go from 1-8 weeks) my two co counselors and I had 11 allergy kids in our group of 20. That means we had to carry 11 red fanny packs with 11 epipens. If that child went somewhere, the epipen went with them, which made even going to the bathroom in groups interesting! We had special allergy tables at lunch and we checked the lunches of each kid who sat their every day since they could bring friends to eat with them. Birthdays were only allowed to be ice pops (no red or purple ones) and snacks were only brought from home. That was my first experience with food allergies of any kind and I really give credit to the kids (and their families) who go through that! I can only imagine the stress level it can create at times. I was thankful I made it through the entire summer without needing to use an epipen (we did have to get trained and try dummy ones before the summer started) but the entire summer was definitely and experience for me. The camp was in Maryland but they have branches in a few states, including New Jersey! I interviewed at the Jersey camp and told them it was for when I was married and living in DC and they hired me for the Maryland one... its is definitely a pricey camp but still pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThat has to be so difficult for all of you! XOXO My kids don't have allergies. I have my own set of struggles, but I can't imagine facing the possibility that a food could be deadly for my child. It must be a constant battle!
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