Growing up with Food Restrictions - An Adult Perspective

I received an email linking to a wonderful, first-person story about growing up with food allergies at FAAN http://www.foodallergy.org/page/creating-compromises Noah Fenn describes the dance between himself and his mother over eating safely at school and carrying his meds. A gently, cautionary tale on how easy it would be to become a helicopter mom, hovering over my child with food and medications.

I think about these issues, such as when is Harry old enough to carry his meds independently? Normally, when he gains a new skill or responsibility he learns the consequence of not doing it. If he leaves a bike in the rain it will get wet. But would I be willing to take that risk with carrying his meds, or going hungry when out with friends?

Noah describes feeling embarrassed in 4th grade as his mom escorted him to the classroom. Well that could mean either he should have started being responsible for his own food earlier, or maybe the timing was just right. Maybe the awareness of embarrassment of being identified as different from his peers and the courage to be able to discuss it with his Mom, was an indication that he was old enough to start taking the burden on.

More questions than answers at this point, but thank you Noah for the perspective.

About this Blog

I'm the proud parent of an elementary aged child with food restrictions. Harry has Celiac Disease which means he is on a gluten free diet and he is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts.

While I can find hundreds of web resources on either health issue, I haven't found much about both. I know there are multiple families out there dealing with dietary restrictions for a combination of reasons, such as allergies, diabetes, and gluten free casein free diets. One goal of this blog is to gather information that crosses the root cause (allergy/disease) and focus on coping mechanisms of daily living.

Another challenge is to find educational materials aimed towards elementary aged children to understand and manage their food restrictions and medical management. I intend to link to any educational material, online or in print that is directly geared to the kids. In this regard, I hope to use this blog as a personal organizer. I'm sure the information is out there, I just haven't unearthed it yet.

Finally, and most importantly, I'd love to hear from other parents and care givers, on their strategies of caring for and training young children with food restrictions.

• If you live in a location that allows a child to carry an Epi-Pen, do you, or would you?
• Do you go on school field trips or volunteer for school events just to watch your child?
• How do you handle Halloween candy?
• When presented with food, how do you want your kids to react? Should they respond, "No thank you," or should they ask some questions?

Please feel free to enter comments at will. I will post new articles and reply to comments on a weekly basis on average.

Thank you,

Linda

The Great Pumpkin

We survived Halloween thanks to the mysterious, wonderful Great Pumpkin. Susan thought it up last year and this year we perfected it. She puts together a bag of small presents and safe Halloween candy and hides it. As a family, we canvass the neighborhood trick-or-treating and while we are out, our neighbors deliver the package from the Great Pumpkin.

Having the neighbor deliver the present while we are out adds to the excitement and mystery. How did that happen? None of us were in the house, but magically the present appeared.

It works great; Harry is excited to go through the mystery gift while I sort through the trick-or-treat candy. Then before he goes to bed, we bag all the candy he can't eat and leave it out for the Great Pumpkin in exchange for the gifts. We don't know exactly what happens if we don't pay the Great Pumpkin with candy, and we really don't want to find out. So we instantly wrap up the candy, put it in a bag and stick it on the porch. Again, another mystery, the bag is gone in the morning.

The Great Pumpkin allows Harry to fully participate in Halloween including eating the goodies. While trick-or-treating we carry the Epi-Pen with us and his costume includes gloves, then the present from the pumpkin completes the safety set.

Since this is my first post, I know no one is reading this, but if anyone ever does - how do you handle Halloween for kids with food restrictions? Do you plant safe treats and friends' houses? Do you skip the trick-or-treating completely?