Letting Go

As kids grow up, one of the hardest things to do (in my opinion, anyway) is to let go. As my kids can attest to, I am not very good at letting go and giving them their independence.  I have had to let go. WAY more than I like, but it was SOO good for Laura.

June 30th, Laura went to Astronomy camp. She stayed in a dorm at the local college. She ate in a cafeteria. She took her own peanut doses. Someone besides me was watching out for her. Allergy moms, don't cringe!!!  It took a TON of planning. It took a lot of cooperation with Western Wyoming Community College, the cafeteria, and the director, Sam Singer. (He is amazing, by the way!!)

Laura did astronomy camp last year. It was SOOO hard for me. I almost pulled her out at the last minute. Sam worked with me and reassured me that this could work, and that she would be safe. Laura had the time of her life last year. She also developed a LOVE for the stars. She has studied about the sky all year. This year she made it clear to me that she REALLY wanted to go again. And I wanted her to. BUT..... she is in the middle of OIT!!!  How can we do this?

Luckily, we had the same safety net as before. Sam is awesome. He is highly educated. AND, he understands food allergies. AND, he knows what to do in an emergency. AND, it is next door to the hospital. (Reassuring to food allergy moms, haha) AND, she could be lined up to be roommates with a friend who gets it. AND last year I made great strides in helping food service understand food allergies. So....we stood in the BOCES sign-up line at 4:30 am to get her in. And, I checked a gazillion labels in the cafeteria. And, I had conversations with BOCES. And conversations with Samuel. And scheduling conversations about when to dose to keep in her window of dosing and still be able to participate in activities. And lined up her friend. And, practiced dosing with Laura. And we texted each other non-stop about dosing. (Did you do it? How did it go? Don't forget!! Tell me when you get it down!) And, Samuel was good to make sure she was dosed and not having problems.

GUESS WHAT??  SHE DID IT!!! SHE DID GREAT! AND...she had an awesome time! I was one nervous mom, but she did AWESOME! She even figured out how to handle the situation when she put her peanut flour on her pudding and when she went to mix it in, it was FROZEN!!  GOOD JOB LAURA!

And come July 3rd, when she was back home, I could breathe again.  Happy times :-)

Laura, checking in at the dorms. She asked for mini braids for
 the week so she didn't have to spend much time on her hair. FUN!

Laura and her friend Jenna. Note Laura's 2 Auvi-q's and allergy
bracelet that she wore all week. AND...her friend Jenna is great
with Laura's allergies. Last year we had a ROCKIN' epi-pen
party before astronomy camp.

Family night. It was unfortunate that the weather didn't cooperate
as there is NOTHING like the stars in Wyoming.

Setting up the telescopes for family night. That is Sam in the picture
with Laura. Without him, she wouldn't be here. Thanks Sam!

Laura and the telescope. Wish she could do this more often!!