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Are we having fun yet?
Sometimes (who am i kidding - many times) as a food allergy mom, you slip up, and you think to yourself "I am SUCH an idiot - how could I have missed this?!". You beat yourself up, because SURELY noone else makes mistakes when it comes to keeping your PA (or FA) child safe.
Right?
Right?
Well, if you are feeling that way in the future, just bookmark this page so you can refer back to it and not feel so alone....
So last Sunday there was a fun run at B's school. It really was more of a slow jog because, well, most kids don't run. They start running, then they get distracted, then they see a water station 20 feet after you start and then over the entire course this keeps happening and you really haven't run at all, now have you?
Anyways, after the run, they gave us a goodie bag and a medal (i use that term loosely) and then handed each child a piece of chocolate.
I know what you're thinking already - "you didn't let B eat that did you?"
Of course I didn't. Well, I didn't right then and there. Actually, i said she could have it then and there but she decided she wanted to eat it later.
Why did I approve it? Well, because a Peanut Free Mom I know organized the event and the chocolates and specifically requested hershey's miniatures plain chocolates for the event. (Note:
foreshadowing).
So, we went on our merry way - she went on a bunch of bouncy slide thingies, played carnival games and had a ball in the extreme heat we had (90's in September - yikes!).
So we get home, and she's looking at her swag bag and comes upon the chocolate. I tell her, sure, you can have it now.
So she goes to open it, unwraps the fancy paper with our school logo. And what is it?
A MR. GOODBAR!
She didn't freak out - she didn't eat it - she just handed it to me with a super mad look on her face, like, 'what's the big idea? - i thought this was supposed to be safe?!?". My jaw hit the floor and I panicked a bit. She hadn't opened it to the chocolate, but what if it was all peanut dusty? Crud!
I threw it away immediately and made B wash her hands before she could touch anything else or get her hands near her mouth. Crisis averted right? For the most part, yes. But....
But it got me thinking - what if she HAD just randomly popped it in her mouth at the event? I DID tell her that her PA friends mom ordered the chocolates and they were SUPPOSED to be safe, so it was a real possibility that she would have.*
What the heck would I have done??
Because you know what the cherry on top is?
I didn't have an epi-pen or benadryl with me (where was I gonna put that in my spandex pants?).
What was I thinking FORGETTING THE MOST IMPORTANT ACCESSORY I HAVE AT AN EVENT WITH A BUNCH OF FOOD??
And that's the story of why I'm an idiot.
It took that one little candy bar to realize what a fool I am, that I can't let my guard down. I needed that little yellow wrapped reminder to tell me that I need to stay prepared ALL THE TIME (if you haven't seen this segment from
The Balancing Ac t, you'll see all the more reason for keeping an epi on you at all times).
----------------------------
*my fellow PA mom was MORTIFIED about the chocolates - she got in touch with me right away once she discovered the issue herself. i don't blame her a bit - they were donated chocolates and the woman did tell her that they would only be miniature hershey's milk chocolates.
Sometimes (who am i kidding - many times) as a food allergy mom, you slip up, and you think to yourself "I am SUCH an idiot - how could I have missed this?!". You beat yourself up, because SURELY noone else makes mistakes when it comes to keeping your PA (or FA) child safe.
Right?
Right?
Well, if you are feeling that way in the future, just bookmark this page so you can refer back to it and not feel so alone....
So last Sunday there was a fun run at B's school. It really was more of a slow jog because, well, most kids don't run. They start running, then they get distracted, then they see a water station 20 feet after you start and then over the entire course this keeps happening and you really haven't run at all, now have you?
Anyways, after the run, they gave us a goodie bag and a medal (i use that term loosely) and then handed each child a piece of chocolate.
I know what you're thinking already - "you didn't let B eat that did you?"
Of course I didn't. Well, I didn't right then and there. Actually, i said she could have it then and there but she decided she wanted to eat it later.
Why did I approve it? Well, because a Peanut Free Mom I know organized the event and the chocolates and specifically requested hershey's miniatures plain chocolates for the event. (Note: foreshadowing).
So, we went on our merry way - she went on a bunch of bouncy slide thingies, played carnival games and had a ball in the extreme heat we had (90's in September - yikes!).
So we get home, and she's looking at her swag bag and comes upon the chocolate. I tell her, sure, you can have it now.
So she goes to open it, unwraps the fancy paper with our school logo. And what is it?
A MR. GOODBAR!
She didn't freak out - she didn't eat it - she just handed it to me with a super mad look on her face, like, 'what's the big idea? - i thought this was supposed to be safe?!?". My jaw hit the floor and I panicked a bit. She hadn't opened it to the chocolate, but what if it was all peanut dusty? Crud!
I threw it away immediately and made B wash her hands before she could touch anything else or get her hands near her mouth. Crisis averted right? For the most part, yes. But....
But it got me thinking - what if she HAD just randomly popped it in her mouth at the event? I DID tell her that her PA friends mom ordered the chocolates and they were SUPPOSED to be safe, so it was a real possibility that she would have.*
What the heck would I have done??
Because you know what the cherry on top is?
I didn't have an epi-pen or benadryl with me (where was I gonna put that in my spandex pants?).
What was I thinking FORGETTING THE MOST IMPORTANT ACCESSORY I HAVE AT AN EVENT WITH A BUNCH OF FOOD??
And that's the story of why I'm an idiot.
It took that one little candy bar to realize what a fool I am, that I can't let my guard down. I needed that little yellow wrapped reminder to tell me that I need to stay prepared ALL THE TIME (if you haven't seen this segment from The Balancing Ac t, you'll see all the more reason for keeping an epi on you at all times).
----------------------------
*my fellow PA mom was MORTIFIED about the chocolates - she got in touch with me right away once she discovered the issue herself. i don't blame her a bit - they were donated chocolates and the woman did tell her that they would only be miniature hershey's milk chocolates.