A couple of years ago there was a kid with a peanut allergy in Gabe's class. I felt bad for the kid, not because he couldn't have peanuts but because I thought his mom was totally neurotic. At every class function she would hover over this poor kid making sure he didn't eat anything, didn't touch anything, didn't even look at anything that might contain traces of peanuts. She seemed very high strung to me. I am embarrassed to say I made fun of her. It's not that I didn't know that peanut allergies could be serious, I guess I just thought they only happened to those kinds of moms.
I thought that the kids that got peanut allergies all had crazy moms that sanitized everything to the point that their little immune systems got all jumpy from underuse. "My kids will never have food allergies like that," I thought smugly, "I let them eat dirt! I don't sanitize their hands every 15 seconds. My kids have healthy immune systems!"
Well, call it karma, comeuppance, or a God wink, but I now have a kid with a peanut allergy, complete with epipen and medical alert bracelet.
Yep, that's right, I am now one of those Moms. Anyone that knows me knows will tell you I'm a pretty laid back parent. I don't hover, I let them fall down sometimes, I look the other way when they eat something off the floor (even dog food). But I have learned that it is impossible to be laid back about a peanut allergy. The most deadly food allergy? Kind of hard to be nonchalant about.
My wonderful brother-in-law, whom I love dearly, recently came to visit us and brought with him a Reeses cup. He opened it, ate it, and put the wrapper on the coffee table. O.M.G. I lost it. I was trying really hard not to sound like a shrieking lunatic but I could hear my voice getting all Joan Crawford. (No...more...peanuts in this house....EVER!) Good thing there were no wire hangers around.
I guess this is my point: before I had a peanut allergy kid I thought it was the helicopter Moms causing the peanut allergies. It seems so silly now but I really did. Now I know that having a peanut allergy kid will actually transform any mom into a hovering, shrieking, paranoid whackadoodle.
Hi, my name is Alida, and I'm a whackadoodle. So don't be too smug, you may be next.
I have several friends with children with food allergies. It's so hard! I cannot imagine what goes through your mind when you give Miss E something new/unknown. I even worried when I brought goodies to your house! I wondered if anything would cause problems for you guys. I stress about it and I'm not even the mom!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Alida! I had to laugh at this, because I have my whackadoole moments too!! My nephew has horrible peanut allergies, the worst I have ever seen, and I know what you mean about being paranoid. Everytime he comes over I feel like I am going to be responsible for his "death". I sanatize everything because Kaylin loves anything with peanuts. I have this feeling in the back of my head that there might be some sort of peanut residue unseen on the countertop that the clorox wipe missed, or a peanut slipped down between the cushions that I missed, and he is going to touch that exact spot and end up in the hospital!! It's awful the extreme things that I invision happening when he comes over to play.
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI am fortunate to not have kids with food allergies. My daughter does however, have Cystic Fibrosis. CF moms are that way about germs..lol. The common cold is a major detriment to my child's health, mainly her lungs. She can no longer until school and has teacher that comes to the house once a week. I can totally relate. Thanks for the laugh...I needed it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I do have food allergies. I am allergic to many things but the main one is chocolate. Makes my throat swell shut.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for seeing this side. I've always been annoyed at my SIL for being so careless about my kids' allergies and now her 4th child has been diagnosed with peanut and egg allergy. Sadly, her husband, my husband's brother at first refused to have the child tested refusing to think she had an allergic reaction. And when she finally spoke with an allergist they both don't want to get her tested to make sure what her level is. They still figure that at 1 she's lived this long with the allergy and will outgrow it. I pretty much want to wring her neck and shake some sense in her. They both still think their kids are invincible. It's an ignorance that may harm their child more than they know.
ReplyDeleteYou can be manic over the food but still be a laid back mom. Helicopter moms hover over everything, at least in my little head. Given everything, if you can laugh about it and see your neurotic moments, you still qualify as laid back. And of course you are the rockin' mom who finds the coolest medical bracelet around!
ReplyDeleteI think our toddler had a peanut allergy after getting hives after a chance encounter with peanut residue. We are just waiting for his skin testing appointment with the allegist, but the pediatrician got us the epipen already. I had hoped this wouldn't be our family, but it looks like it probably is. I have always felt so bad for the constant worry the mothers of peanut allergy kids endure. Now it looks like I'll be joining the ranks. So maybe you didn't cause this by creating bad karma!
ReplyDeleteI went from being a completely laid back mom, to a whackadoodle one, after learning that my son is anaphylactic to peanuts, some tree nuts and eggs. Watching your child turn blue and lose consciousness after eating two bites of a peanut butter sandwich will do that to ya. If hovering will keep that from happening again, I'm all over it.
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