I found my answer in your post above.
Let me also say, that I can only imagine how tough it is for your family for DS to be allergic to so many things. How have you kept your son safe at school ?
Sorry if any of this is being repetitive, I've haven't been able to keep up with all of the posts.
I keep him safe in multiple ways:
1. We homeschool - we do not do this because of his allergies but it certainly makes things easier. He does attend co-op classes and group activities five days a week so he is out there getting exposed to these allergens regularly.
2. My son learned from a very early age to say, "Due to my allergies, I can not have anything that hasn't been approved by my parents."
3. He was taught at a young age and continues to practice how to use his epi pen.
4. He carries an allergy bag that clips to his belt loop everywhere he goes. It has his epi pens, Benadryl, cortisone cream for external swelling and emergency contact information.
5. I have always made it a point when I drop my son off anywhere to say, "Don't forget, he has his own snacks/lunch and because of his allergies, please do not offer him anything besides water."
6. Most importantly, I tell him that his allergies really suck for him but in the grand scheme of things, if this is the worst thing that he ever has to deal with in life, we will all be very lucky. It is just a part of his life. We try not to dwell on it.
He has a blast on Halloween. He gets to trick or treat with his friends and turn in all his candy at the end of the night to me for $10. We donate it all to Give Kids the World.
Birthday parties are hard. I have to make his own cake so he has something to eat. I have to bring his own pizza. Sometimes I have to stay because there are just certain families that I don't trust. He has had to turn down invites because they just won't work. This month, one friend invited him to go to a local Japanese restaurant for his birthday. That place is a peanut oil and soy nightmare. Instead, we invited another friend over that night and they had a great time.
) I understand that my son living without a strawberry for 6 hours a day isn't the end of the world, especially when it would have helped one child. But, what about my kid? Sorry if that makes me selfish but try making a balanced meal for a picky preschooler when he can't eat MOST of the things others eat. He can't have PB&J's, chicken nuggets, pizza, cupcakes, ice cream, etc. And now someone expects me to take the one fruit he can eat and loves and tell me he can't have it?? Yet, I have a kid with multiple allergies and I have not asked one single person to stop eating those items? Sorry, but that doesn't fly with me. Stay in the classroom with your child to make sure they are safe or get an aide for the child. The minute someone starts telling me that my kid CAN'T have something when he is severely limited as it is, I draw the line.
This happened during the 2001 school year in the town I was living in. Her alternative, when things weren't going her way, was for the bus driver to hand out wipes to every child as they got on the bus. She didn't win that request either. There was a very simple solution to her problem. Drive her kid to school but she never entertained that option.
