Back to School

Today we continue on our Teaching our Kids to be Food Allergy Advocates series. We’ve heard from:

Cindy at Vegetarian Mamma shared about teaching kids to eat safe foods.

Kathy at Food Allergy Jams shared a Food Allergy Game for preschoolers.

Today Sarah from Don’t Feed My Monkeys will give us an inside peek into the life of families with food allergies. She talks about what it is like for her family, with not so little kids, and Saying No.

Sarah is a busy wife and mom of 4, two of her kids have food allergies. I met Sarah last year at the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference and we hit it off right away. Be sure to follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and of course Don’t Feed My Monkeys.

Meet Sarah…

I have four kids, the two oldest have food allergies.  My 10 year old son is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts.  He also avoids gluten, soy, and artificial colors.  My 8 year old daughter is allergic to peanuts.

As my kids are getting older, I am finding that they are taking on more independence with their food allergies.   I am trying to keep them in my safe food bubble where I provide all of their food, check all the labels, educate all the adults they are around.  But I also have to teach them to navigate the world safely on their own.  This is the bridge we are currently crossing.

I still control their food, and I still educate parents and teachers on food allergies (avoiding a reaction and what to do if a reaction occurs), but I know they are learning to fend for themselves.  They are beginning to hang out with friends more, going from one house to another.  These houses are not food allergy havens.  There is peanut butter there.  Goldfish crackers.  M & M’s.  Cheetos.  Cookies.  My kids know to say no to these temptations.  I’m sure it’s hard as they watch their friends indulge in these treats, and I do my best in making up for it at home (usually after the fact…..they first have to watch other kids eat).  But this is their reality.  I try to be prepared if I know food will be present, but as all you food allergy parents know, things pop up without warning.  We just do the best we can.

Kids bring cupcakes to school.  They trade food at the lunch table.  They go out for ice cream or pizza on a whim with their parents.  I still keep a stash of safe treats at school for my kids to have when others bring birthday treats, and I show up to every class party with safe treats for my kiddos.   I try to make lunches fun and delicious so they never feel left out.  But they still have to say no.  When others are making a game of trading lunch food or stuffing their face with frosting-covered cupcakes, my kids say no.  They are responsible about it.  They get it.  And for the most part, their friends understand.  My kids have been lucky enough not to be bullied about their food allergies this far.  But they still have to watch everyone else indulge.

I’m always curious how my kids really feel about their food allergies.  What truly goes through their heads.  They have said that they wish they didn’t have food allergies (cue my tears and breaking heart), but I always try to remain positive about it around them.   They know they can’t have most treats that others are enjoying and that they have to stay safe.  I’ve explained what anaphylaxis is and what to do in an emergency.   They understand epi responsibility–take it with you everywhere, don’t leave it in the car.  They’ve even injected oranges with expired EpiPens.  We are working on independence with managing these sorts of things as I work on letting go of the control of the food bubble.  Passing the food torch, so to speak.

So, for now, my kids say no.  They are responsible enough to turn down food, even when they don’t want to.  But I’m dreading those rebellious teenage years when they want to test the waters to see what really happens when they have just one little bite of that something that looks so delicious.  All I can do at this point is teach them to be responsible and help them understand why saying no is so important.

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Thanks Sarah!

Don’t forget to enter my Plentils Giveaway to win 4 bags of food allergy-friendly Plentils.

Today we continue out series, Teaching Kids to be Food Allergy Advocates. Last week we heard from Kathy at Food Allergy Jams. She told us about a Preschool Food Allergy Game.

This week, I’m excited to have Cindy Gordon from Vegetarian Mamma join us today. She is discussing different methods to teach kids to eat safe foods. When I first discovered Cindy’s site I was thrilled because her focus is on meat-free, gluten-free and nut-free recipes. It’s easy to find recipes that work for our family. She also has a weekly link up called Gluten-Free Friday’s.

Another reason I’m excited to have Cindy here is that I met her at the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference last year! Ever since we met I regularly send her random questions and she is always so gracious to answer them. Without further ado, here’s Cindy.

Living with food allergies can be overwhelming for anybody, let alone our little ones. As we head back to school, whether it be preschool, elementary and beyond, we need to teach our children about their food allergies. Learning about their food allergies, includes learning what is safe to eat.

Green Means GO

When my youngest was finally diagnosed at 18 months old, we began teaching him about safe foods. Being so young, he was not able to fully communicate in sentences and read labels. He was however very fluent with his colors. We were able to teach our children, green means GO and red means STOP! We headed to the dollar store and bought all kinds of green and red bins. Within all the green bins, we placed food items that my youngest could eat. He was able to immediately identify with the color of the bin that the food inside was safe. In the red bins, we had foods that were not safe for him. Since he was a toddler those red bins were on very high shelves.

This color coding system worked well for any visiting family members that came to our house. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have to question an item when it was on the green bin.

As the kids have grown older and are beginning to read, we still have our color coding system in place, but in a different way. We have two sets of utensils, toasters, etc. The allergy friendly utensils and toaster are green. This is a clear reminder for the children so they do not cross contaminate their foods with unsafe foods.

Focus On What You Can Eat

From the initial allergy diagnosis, our children wore Allerbling medical bracelets. On the bracelets, it indicated with words and pictures what their allergies were. People would often ask about their bracelets. This was the perfect learning opportunity for my children. We would point to each picture and say what the allergen is and explain that it is not safe to eat. We would always end on a positive note and say a few food items that were safe to eat. We always tried to focus on what we could eat, not what we can’t eat.

Look for Teachable Moments

As additional reinforcement, often times when we would see an allergen in our environment (grocery store, etc) we would point it out and discuss the allergen. We would discuss that it is not safe to eat.

As the boys started to get older, we would point out the allergens words, such as: peanut, gluten, dairy on ingredient labels. These words were some of the first ‘sight words’ that my children could read. That is a life saving skill!

Over the course of several years, we have worked to adapt our food allergy learning to the ages of the boys. When they were little we were visual and concrete with colors, as they grew older we used pictures and as they matured we began reading labels.  No matter what age or stage your child is in, it is important for you to teach them about their allergies and to know what is safe to eat. In our food allergy world, just one little bit could change everything.

Bio:
Cindy Gordon is the owner and author of Vegetarian Mamma and is a foodie who loves to blog about gluten free vegetarian/vegan recipes. Her family also focuses on foods that are peanut, tree nut, dairy and gluten free. Cindy’s family is dedicated to finding/creating recipes and products that fit their families allergy needs. Cindy resides in Ohio with her husband and two boys (born ’07 & ’10). She enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors, gardening, wine and cooking! Connect with Cindy on VegetarianMamma.com, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Check out her latest books: Gluten Free Fork and The Dessert Fork. Both books are completely gluten and nut-free.

Join me in welcoming Kathy Thornburg from Food Allergy Jams. Kathy has one of my favorite Instagram accounts and also did the design work on my logo! Today she is presenting a Food Allergy Game for Preschoolers in our Teaching Kids to Be a Food Allergy Advocates Series. Check out her Food Allergy Printable Pack too!

My son was 15 months old when he had his first bite of peanut butter and his first allergic reaction. At such a young age and still staying at home with me, I felt like we had plenty of time to learn about food allergies and teach him everything he would need to know before he was old enough for school.

The years have flown by and now we are faced with the reality that preschool is less than a month away. I feel confident that in our years living with food allergies, our family is very knowledgeable about our son’s allergies, how to keep him safe, and what to do if a reaction happens. Still the thought of dropping him off at preschool and leaving him there for a few hours makes me nervous. Have we taught our son well? Does he understand why he needs to say no to foods that might not be safe? Will I get the dreaded call sometime this year that something went wrong and he is headed to the hospital?

Now is the time to quiz my little one and see how we’ve done. I need to take this time before school starts to refresh him on all he needs to know, and I need to find a way to make learning fun.

10 things I want him to know…

I am allergic to peanuts, walnuts, and dogs.

I should not eat foods containing my allergens (or pet furry animals).

If I accidentally eat my allergens, I will get sick (if I pet animals with fur, my eyes will get itchy, water, and start to swell).

If I feel sick, I need to tell an adult right away.

I need to always have my injector near.

If my mom or dad haven’t approved a snack, I need to say, “No thank you”.

I wear my allergy bracelet to help others remember my needs.

I should wash my hands with soap and water before eating.

I should not eat food from anyone else’s plate, even if they offer it to me.

Mom will always pack me a safe snack in case I need it.

After thinking through what I wanted him to know about his allergies, I needed to find a way to make teaching him fun. Here’s how I tackled preschool prep.

Food Allergy Game for Preschoolers

When I told my little guy we were going to play a game to get him ready for preschool, he was very excited to get started. I told him he could invite one of his stuffed animals to join us, and he quickly ran to find Curious George. I already had my questions typed, printed, cut apart, and waiting in a little treasure box (you can “laminate” with packing tape and use dry erase markers to make your cards last longer). I also had his allergy bracelet and his AuviQ training injector nearby to help during times of discussion. Half of the questions in the treasure box where about food allergies and covered each of the areas listed above and the other half were just silly, light questions.

My son and his stuffed animal took turns picking questions out of the box and answering them. After each question, I wrote a little note of his answer on the question card so I could look through his responses again later when I had time to myself to process the game and compare his answers to his previous answers. Over time, this helps you see how your child has grown in their understanding of food allergies.

It’s best if your child doesn’t sense they are being tested, but that you truly are playing a game and enjoying time together. You might find that only tackling half of your questions in one sitting works best so you don’t feel rushed and stressed to get through them all quickly. If at any point, your child gets frustrated or upset, end the game and tell them how proud you are of all they have learned. You can pick it up again later when the mood is better.

Sometimes, a child may not feel comfortable giving an answer, and you may need to step in and say that you want to help the stuffed animal answer the question. Then, they have the opportunity to hear your great answer and the next time you play, they may feel like they are ready to give an answer on their own. I’ve learned from experience that games like this are best done when you can be one on one. Having a lot of commotion going on in the background or a little sibling trying to swipe the game cards, can make the game more difficult.

If it starts to feel a little stale after a while, but you still don’t think your child is ready, take a different approach and consider acting out scenarios together. Have them practice packing a bag for school, sitting down for snack time, using an injector (with the trainer!) during a reaction, and saying, “No thank you”, when a friend offers food.

Hopefully, this simple game will help spark great discussions between you and your child before the new school year starts. Don’t forget…you also need to be sure your child’s teachers understand all of these same things and more (although you probably need to teach it in a slightly different way to an adult). Have fun learning and stay safe starting a new school year!

Bio

I am Kathy Thornburg, stay at home mom, food allergy blogger, and freelance graphic designer. I live in Ohio with my husband and my two littles (ages 3 1/2 and 1 1/2). It is my passion to stay current in the world of food allergies, teach my family what they need to know to stay safe, and to encourage others living the food allergy life along the way. Both of my children have eczema. My son also has asthma and allergies to peanuts, walnuts, and dogs. He has outgrown allergies to wheat and eggs. We hope you will follow our food allergy journey on ourblog and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. We love to post recipes, reviews, giveaways, and pictures of our fun meals and crafts.