Mommy Musings

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 ...

A few weeks before Halloween, I started to see some people talking about the Teal Pumpkin Project.  I did a little research and found out that it is for Food Allergy Awareness.  The gist of it is, you are supposed to paint a pumpkin teal, and then off both candy and non-food items to kids with allergies on Halloween.  Well I could absolutely get on board with that! Halloween is probably the most stressful holiday for a food allergy parent, so I was happy to do anything I could to help. First off, all the candy I bought to give out was peanut and nut free.  I put that on the sign I left when we were out.  I also had some gummy candy that was chocolate and dairy free as well.  I painted our pumpkin teal that morning, and wrote on it that we were an allergy friendly house.  I had picked up some small toys at the store and placed them in a bowl to hand out with a sign that said they were for kids with allergies. We were not really home most of the afternoo...

Here's a quick tip for all you allergy parents out there.  We took Emmy for her yearly visit to the allergist last week to have all the paperwork filled out for school this year.  While we were there, the allergist told us about a new blood they've come out with.  I think it's just for those with a peanut allergy, but I could be wrong.  The test goes one step farther than a traditional blood test.  It tests not only if a person is allergic to peanuts, but whether or not they will have the anaphylaxis reaction. It turns out that even among the people with a 5+ allergy to peanuts, only about 1-2% of those people will go into anaphylactic shock if they ingest peanuts.  If Emmy had tested negative on the blood test, we would have then brought her into the office for a tolerance test.  She would always be allergic to peanuts, but it might only result in a bad rash. Sadly, we got the call this morning that Emmy did in fact test positive for anaphylaxis, so w...

I just wanted to write up a quick post about our experience with food allergies in Disney.  As the parent of an epi-pen kid, new experiences, especially restaurants, can be a bit unnerving.  You're not sure of what possible allergens they serve, how accommodating they will be, or how much of a risk cross-contamination with be. I'm here to tell you that if you're planning a trip to Disney, then allergies are not something you need to worry about at all.  Disney was so wonderful  in making sure Emmy was safe from all peanut products. First off, if you are making any dining reservations for a sit-down meal, there is a spot to include any food allergies in your group.  We made sure to make note of Emmy's peanut allergy in each spot.  That info was then on all of our paperwork from Disney....itineraries, etc. Our first meal at Disney was a sit-down lunch at Cinderella's castle.  As we were checking in we mentioned about Emmy's allergy to the woman.  Sh...

I came across this article the other day on Twitter.  As a food allergy mom, it sparked my interest. Basically, there is a mom in Canada is filing a human rights campaign against her daughter's school for not being accommodating enough to her severe allergy to milk and eggs.  The mother would like to ban both of these items from the school.  The school has already made a lot of accommodations for her daughter, but the mom doesn't feel like it's enough. Now first off, I see both sides to this issue.  I am the mom of a severe allergy child...one whose life is in danger if she ingests peanuts.  I have also been a teacher and a camp counselor.  It is hard to make exceptions for one child {or a few} when the majority of kids are able to eat a certain food.  But in the cases of a deadly allergy, it always needs to get done .  I feel for this mother, I really do.  I also think that there is only so much a school can, and should have to do.  T...

I had a different post scheduled for this morning, but that's going to have to be pushed back till tomorrow.  I found this article on Yahoo this morning and I am just appalled.  I get it, I'm sure it's annoying to have to grab something else for your kid to eat other than peanut butter, but as food allergy kid parents, we're concerned about our kids LIVES.  I am seriously fuming over this. As the article said, none of us want to be food allergy parents.  But it's what we have to deal with.  And wouldn't it be easier for the kids, teachers, and parents to just be nut free instead of trying to remember if you can send in this, or that, or what class has allergy kids?  What are your thoughts?  Do you think schools should be nut free?  Remember that there are children, like my Emmy, who cannot even tough peanut butter without having a reaction.  What is the policy at your school?  I'd love to hear your opinions on this! It's hard to be...

Thirty Things #12: Describe a typical day in your life. This is actually a pretty tough question for me to answer since "typical" is not really in the vocabulary of a cop wife.  Since Skip's schedule switches between days and nights every week, and his days off change every week as well, we're all over the place. And that doesn't include the days he works a double shift.  So I'll describe a typical day when Skip works a 16 hour shift and it's just me and the girls all day. 7:00-8:00 - When the girls usually wake up.  I change diapers, brush teeth, etc. 8:00-8:30 - Both girls get sippies of milk and some breakfast...waffles, pancakes, cereal fruit..something like that 8:30-9:30 - Girls play in the house normally.  I try to do a little blogging, tidy up, get the dogs up and outside, make and drink lots and lots of coffee and get myself ready 9:30-12:00 Get the girls dressed...we then either play outside, go to the park, or run errands 12:00 - Lunch for both ...

Today I want to show my thanks and appreciation to the school Little M will be starting at in the fall.  It is a Catholic elementary school with a *fabulous* reputation.  It's been around forever and my mom actually graduated from there!  It was everything I wanted and more for my little girl.  But I was still scared. Because not only do I have my very first baby going off to preschool {EVERYDAY!!} but that precious sweet babe of mine also has a sever peanut allergy.  And the thought of handing her over to complete strangers who might not respect the severity of her allergy was enough for me to start researching homeschooling.  But I know plenty of people with epi pens, and they all made it through school unscathed, so I had to keep hope. A few weeks ago the school had an orientation for all preschool parents.  Skip had to work so it was just me heading over.  I was determined to get some concrete ideas and plans of how they would handle Little M'...

This whole, being a parent to a food-allergy kid is rough man.  Thankfully Little M is only allergic to peanuts, but her allergy is so severe I have enough to worry about.  She will go into anaphylactic shock if she ingests peanuts.  And if she just touches them, she will break out into a rash.  She accidentally touched a dog treat that had peanuts in it and she broke out in a rash within minutes.  I try to stay as calm and nonchalant as possible about it...but honestly?  Her allergic scares the crap out of me most days. We've become experts on reading labels and I'm constantly looking up foods with hidden peanuts {like Chinese food}  We never leave the house without Little M's mini medical bag with her benedryl and epi pens.  My anxiety level goes up every time we're out of the house and around food.  It can even get a little frustrating at home sometimes too.  Like last year when Little M randomly broke out from eating Thousand Island ...