Team Peanut

I think any mom with a kid with food allergies wants their children to live as "normal" of a life as possible, but we also want our children to be safe. It's hard, therefore, not to draw daily attention to food allergies...especially on grocery day (why does it seem like all of the pictures on boxes of peanut filled granola bars and pecan studded cookies look so much better than the "no nut" ones??). I swear I say more than 5 times a day, "No, sweetie. You can't have that. It might have peanuts in it. It has peanuts in it. or I can't be sure it is safe." It's not normal and it breaks my heart every time I have to deny him some deliciousness. To a 5-year old kid, homemade just isn't the same as something from the store. It loses it's excitement, it's special status.

While visiting family, little brother kept drawing attention to the fact that Perry couldn't have peanuts and everyone else could. He cried, "I just want to be like everyone else! I want to be on the 'peanut team', not the 'no peanut team!'" Ugh! How can a mother keep from sobbing, falling to her knees and shouting "Why??????" at the sky? Thankfully, "mom mode" kicked in and kept me from losing it, but what can you really say? All I could come up with was something like, "Hey, I don't even like peanuts. They're gross! I want to be on the 'no peanut team' with you? Can you be the Capitan?"

Last year, at our annual trip to the allergist, I came across the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy flyer that I had seen the year before but didn't pick up. The walk was scheduled for Perry's 5th birthday and I thought it would be a perfect way for him to see how not alone he was. Boy, was I right!

I think I had tears dropping from my face the 2 hours we were at the walk site. When we first arrived, we checked in and got our t-shirts and ribbons. Mine was green (supporter of food allergies) and Perry's was blue (I have food allergies). As I pinned the ribbon to his shirt, I told him to "look for kids with a blue ribbon, they are just like you! Introduce yourself and ask them what they're allergic to...maybe they'll be allergic to peanuts, too!" He immediately started scanning and it didn't take long for him to discover he definitely was not alone.We made friends with a family and walked with them the entire time. Perry talked to maybe a hundred kids and they shared allergies :-)

If you have a child with food allergies, I strongly suggest you walk the now FARE Walk for Food Allergy (name change this year). It's filled with vendors offering free samples, bouncy houses, and possibilities for friendship. Invite your friends, your kids' friends and maybe your allergist (we saw ours there with her own children). Last year, just Perry and I went but this year, we'll walk as a family in support of our son and our brother.

Go, Team Peanut!