Playdough Issue

We are having our first allergy issue with school. C's teacher pulled me aside and said that the play dough recipe we were using was not working. I had previously shared a list of recipes for the moms to make safe play dough for the class. I made the first batch and all seemed well until today. I guess some of the dough that they have gotten has been wither too oily or too dry etc. She asked if I could make special dough for Connor and the rest of the class can have regular dough.

I am torn - I do not mind making C's dough at all. I am a bit worried that C will accidentally play with the wheat containing play dough and have a reaction. I am trying to figure out how to handle this. I guess I might need to make the class play dough every month? Or by a big batch of wheat free Aromadough for the class.

Thoughts?

Wheat Free Play Dough

It is the custom in our preschool for the mom's to take turns making playdough for the class each month. Since C can not play with traditional playdough made from flour I worked up a plan to keep him safe. Before school started I met with his teachers to review all of his allergy information. At this meeting I brought up the issue and had printed up some wheat free playdough recipies I had found online. I figured that we would pass them out at BTS night. I also decided to volunteer to make playdough for September so I could make sure we got on the right track.




This is the playdough I made - it came out really great. The texture is really nice. I chose a recipie that called for shortening a a little vegetable oil. I thought it would make it more pliable and keep it from drying out. And it did! I ended up emailing all the recipies to the moms and got some really positive replies. I think overall they are really understanding and willing to try and help. It is nice to know that there are still some compassionate people out there. The teacher also asked me to share the recipie with the moms of the 2 day class that shares the room!

Here is the recipie:
2 c. cornstarch
1 c. salt
1 tbsp. shortening
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Mix and cook over low heat until mixture leaves edge of pan. Knead until smooth. Store in plastic bag or container at room temperature. I added food coloring and kneaded it in while the dough was still warm. I did wear gloves so I did not dye my hands green. Next time I am going to try adding it to the water fiirst.

Thanks for All the Well Wishes

I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all the kind notes of love and support. It really means a lot , even though most of us have never met in person I do feel we have gotten to know each other quite well via the Internet. We are doing well all things considered. Life has been a sea of phone calls, doctor visits, and tests. I do not have the full picture yet (one more test to go) by the middle of next week I will have a course of treatment. Otherwise life has been pretty normal - surprisingly normal. We still had all the BTS nights, soccer, swimming etc. Tonight we hung out with some friends and had pizza and beer.

I am looking to the positive - at the end of this I will have new boobs! Smaller, perky ones too!Who does not want that? I will be checking periodically in and lurking for sure!

A quick school update - it is going really well for both boys. C only had 1 potty accident on the first day. He also loves his Speed Racer lunch box that he uses to take his own snack to school. The teachers have been great. I signed up to make the play dough for the first month , so this Sunday I will be making wheat free play dough. I have a couple of recipes, so we will see what works.

Later -
A

School Days

School has begun and the related issues for allergic children are beginning again. I have spent the last 10 minutes catching up on my Google alerts, and I am really disturbed by what I am reading.

First a story of a 19 year old high school student who smeared peanut butter on an allergic classmate. Fortunately there was no reaction, but what was he thinking? What kind of person does that? I do not think I will ever understand bullying, I guess this kid was just trying to get off on a power trip. The police are looking into the situation, but the victim did not want to press charges. Why would he? That could just set him up to continue to be a target.

Then a story about a school secretary who resigned from her job due to the schools no nut policy. Apparently they do regular lunchbox checks to make sure that no one brings in any peanut product. (how the school has time to do that I'll never know) Parents feel that it is a hassle, and she is getting a lot of community support towards a petition to change the policy.

Finally a story about a boy who was pulled out of school when students threw rocks at him and said they were peanuts. Apparently the school also has a no nut policy, which is under fire from non allergic parents. This poor kid is under so much pressure because his classmates can not have the treats and food they like because of his peanut allergy. How is a child supposed to learn and thrive in that kind of environment?

It seems like this peanut / no peanut issue is tearing some schools and communities apart. Because of "those parents" that their child can not take their favorite treat to school. Believe me , I sympathise - I know it is a pain to have to read the labels. I do it every day for 9 different allergens! Why are we so focused on the foods we can or can not bring to school. We should be focused on education and nurturing the next generation.

My allergic boys are not in public school yet. so I have not had to deal with this directly. Our schools are not nut free, but they seem to be very nut aware - requesting that food eaten in the classroom (only snack) does not contain peanut products. Peanut products are allowed in the cafeteria, but there is always a buffer around the allergic child of friends who are not eating peanut butter. My daughter and her friends are learning to be considerate of their classmates with peanut allergies.

To be honest, I do not what nuts banned from our school. I do not think it is the best way to handle the situation. Peanuts are also not the only allergen out there. I think it can make our kids targets to ridicule from classmates as well as insensitive parents. Clearly many people don't get it, they never will. They do not want to be bothered with worrying about food allergies because of some other kids. Some people are just like that. We need to teach our kids the skills they need to survive in a world with peanuts and insensitive people.

Getting Ready for School

Like many of you I have been deep into preparation for school the past couple of weeks. K. started second grade last week. It was a great week, she was so happy to be back in school. Her teacher is really nice and the class seems to be quite structured for second grade. K does not have any food allergies so I do not have to fret about that. I did however have to send in a doctors note about her ruptured ear. She had surgery 2 weeks ago to repair the rupture, and can not participate in P.E. or any other physical activity for 3 or 4 more weeks.

The boys are another story. R will begin Jr. Kindergarten in a school that is nut free. I do not worry too much about him. I know the school snacks are safe and I will attend the class parties and field trips to check on what is being served from outside the classroom.

I am a little more concerned about C. His allergies are numerous, and the wheat and egg allergies worry me the most. He will be attending the same school as his brother, just 3 days a week. The school has a great tradition of scheduling home visits for all the students and teachers a week before school. It gives the teachers a great opportunity to meet the child one on one and makes the transition very smooth. It also gives the parents the opportunity to discuss any issues.

Due to C's allergies both his teacher and the assistant came to visit. I think the meeting went very well. C was very shy, but I feel like our allergy conversation went very well. Before the meeting I had sent a note to the school with a list of things I wanted to review. The teachers had a copy of the list so they were prepared with questions as well. They understand the importance that C only eat food that I supply. We agreed that I would send his snack in a lunch box so that he will know to only eat from his special box. I will be attending all the class parties and am happy to make 2 or 3 items for the kids to share. I also had some concerns about craft projects. Normally the mom's volunteer to take turns making play dough every month. C can not play with play dough made from flour. I printed several recipes for play dough that was made from corn starch. They will be distributed to the class. In addition I offered to supply the class with brown rice noodles if needed for art projects. We basically started a positive dialog. I explained that I was willing to help out in any way to help make sure C was safe and that would help the teachers to focus on teaching.

Over all I feel pretty good about the allergy thing. I think I am more worried about the potty thing. C. is newly potty trained (YEAH), but I worry he will forget to go, or be too shy to tell the teacher he needs help. Tomorrow is the open house, and school starts on Tuesday.

Thinking About School

Wow - I did not realize it had been 10 days since my last post. Summer is flying by. We have been really busy with swim team - which is almost over. Realizing how fast summer is passing has me thinking ahead to school preparation. I scored a good deal the other day at Toys R Us. We happened to be there for a birthday present, when I noticed that they were offering free lunch boxes with the purchase of a back back. For three kids that was a $30 savings! They had a good selection - we chose Hannah Montana, Batman, and Speed Racer. Check it out if you need backpacks.

Since this is C.'s first year in pre-school, I awoke this morning thinking about how to prepare the school and his teacher for his arrival. The school has dealt with numerous allergies including wheat. I will be sending in his snacks (in his new lunchbox). So, they really just need to make sure he does not eat any food that I personally did not provide, and he will be OK. Oh yeah - and we have to make sure that the play dough is made from corn starch instead of flour. At our school the mom's take turns making play dough every month.

The school is nut free, although that does not prevent a well meaning mom from inadvertently sending in a food that has a peanut contamination. I have a non allergy friend who wrote "no nuts" in her kids lunchbox to remind herself not to include any peanut product. I thought that was a great idea. I will be attending all class parties and serving dishes that are safe and hopefully tasty for all the kids.

There was an incident at the school summer camp where a boy with Celiac disease was given an animal cracker. The mom was not happy and it made him sick for a few days. I try not to worry, but it is in the back of my mind. I also need ask them to make sure that they inform me of any class birthdays and school projects that involve food.

Our school has a nice tradition of scheduling home visits between all the teachers and student about a week before school. This will give me a good opportunity to review everything with his teacher. I have also seen different allergy plan forms on line that I will fill out for them. Oh yeah - and I need to order that medical bracelet.

What do you all do to prepare the school for your allergy kids? Is there anything I need to add to my list?

Cupcake Alternative for Class Parties

There seems to be a firestorm of controversy lately about bringing cupcakes to school for birthday celebrations. Some communities are trying to cut back the amount of sugar in their schools. Other groups have serious concerns about exposing food allergic children to a treat that will cause them to have a reaction. It is true that the majority of food allergic reactions at school happen as a result of food being brought in from home. Eliminating cupcakes at school would reduce one risk. This is a very emotional issue for everyone. Parents want their kids’ health and safety to be a priority. Other parents don’t want their child’s right to celebrate birthdays with cake to be infringed upon. Being the mother of a food allergic child, I think there have to be a way to celebrate birthdays without sugary, potentially dangerous treats.

My daughter came home from school the other day and mentioned that there had been a birthday on the class. I asked her if she had had cupcakes. (K. has no food allergies, so I was not worried.) She told me that instead the mom had come for lunch and served the class fruit with whipped cream. What a great idea! If milk is a concern you could easily substitute non dairy whipped topping. My kids personally love strawberries with cream or vanilla yogurt for desert. K. said that everyone in the class liked it, and no one mentioned anything about cupcakes.

Is it possible that the cupcake issue is a bigger deal for the parents than the kids? My daughter’s class did not seem to miss the cupcakes. I have also thought about sending in a little goody bag with a few trinkets from the party store. Kids love cheap junk! The party favors are always the toys that cause the most arguments at my house. And – I promise you my 4 year old son’s all time favorite toys are the 30 cent pirate cake toppers we got at the party store.

I also heard from another mom who takes in sugar free popsicles for her son’s birthday.

What do you do to celebrate birthdays at school?

Handling Food Allergies in School

Last night I attended an interesting meeting of the Health, Safety and Wellness Committee of our local School Board. They called a meeting to discuss the current procedures for keeping children with food allergies safe at school. They invited our local support group to represent the parents. I really appreciate that our representative, Maria, made a point to focus on our desire to build a positive relationship with the school board. Not only did Maria do a great job of providing insight into raising food allergic children, she also voiced important questions and concerns that parents have about sending their food allergic children to school.

I commend the school board for their interest in becoming educated on food allergies, and taking steps to formally discuss what policies could be adopted to help keep our children safe. I have previously had the opportunity to meet several nurses from out local schools. During these brief conversations I was pleased to learn that they have taken the initiative to put procedures in place to help food allergic children in school. They encourage an open dialog between the parents, educators and school medical staff to develop a plan that will work for each child. As parents we have the choice of where we want to store the Epi pen, where we want our child to sit during lunch and how we want to handle class parties.

Regardless of weather your school has a formal food allergy policy in place, keeping your child safe is about building relationships. Positive relationships with teachers, nurses, friends and other parents that foster open communication. A supportive circle of friends, family and teachers will help keep our children safe. We need to advocate for our children in a positive helpful way. We know more about our child’s food allergies and their reaction than anyone else. It is our job to communicate that information effectively.

It strikes me that another major component should be fostering awareness and sensitivity among non allergic students and parents. We have all read about the case in Kentucky where a school bully put a child at risk when a peanut laced cookie was sprinkled on his lunch. Fortunately this story did not have a tragic ending. The child accused of the bullying is facing some very serious consequences. There are so many people that do not understand how serious food allergies are. Did this child really understand that his actions put another’s life at risk? How do we raise our children to be compassionate and sensitive to those who may be different? This is an issue that transcends food allergies.

Our school district has regular school assemblies. I heard a suggestion that perhaps one of the assemblies could address food allergies. FAAN even has books and videos geared toward kids to educate them on food allergies. Perhaps we could benefit from the same kind of sensitivity training used to foster acceptance of other differences, applied to food allergies.