Halloween

So, Halloween is pretty close to the top of nightmares for food allergy moms. Halloween has always meant more stress, time, and effort for me; but for some reason it has never freaked me out in the way that it does some moms. What it does do, is remind me how pervasive food allergies are in everyday life. One CANNOT escape food. It IS everywhere.  And Halloween? It means food is all over the school, class parties, recitals (with food), trick-or-treating, and lack of control. Which is ultimately the most scary part. Lack of control. When a child has food allergies, control of food and surroundings is critical. Without it? Things become dangerous and scary.

Laura has now participated in Halloween 12 years with a life-threatening food allergy. And we have navigated EVERY LAST ONE without a reaction. Yes, that is a dream. Getting there is not always the easy part.  EVERY class party has required a great deal of time and effort. I have had long discussions with teachers, and they have tried hard to accommodate (most of the time). One critical piece to the puzzle has been my presence. I have been to EVERY class party that Laura has ever been to. EVERY LAST ONE. AND.....at EVERY party, there has been unsafe food. Yep. Every time. I have found that it does not matter how much preparation is put into avoidance, there is ALWAYS something that makes its way into the classroom. Sometimes a lot of unsafe food makes its way in. Luckily, all the preparation isn't for naught. It decreases the risk, for sure. But, without me going to the parties, I am certain that every party could have ended differently. Luckily, this year was different for us. Laura is now in seventh grade, and has 8 different teachers. Which also meant NO SCHOOL PARTIES!!!  She did have one teacher that handed out candy bars without checking with me. Another fail-but we expect the failures as part of life. I truly don't expect the teachers to remember to check with me all the time. When you don't have to live this life, and don't have to be aware of every last thing, it is easy to forget. That is why it is CRITICAL for Laura to step up to the plate. And she does :-)  I am lucky that she is SO RESPONSIBLE as well. Luckily this year, her teacher happened to be giving out Kit Kats, one candy bar that Laura can now eat!!!
Parties? Laura had two parties for Young Women's this year. A stake party, and a ward level YW party. Both parties went great this year! We did a LOT of communicating this last month, and things were pretty safe for her. Probably the safest her YW activities have been so far.  :-) 

Laura with friends Jayden and Mauri

Trick-or-treating? Laura is getting on the older side to trick or treat, but we left it up to her this year.  It can be a bit adventurous, I will admit, but it has always been totally feasible.  Laura has actually had two challenges to trick-or-treating. One is the food allergy and fear of food. The second is dogs. Laura is TERRIFIED of dogs. And people like to have dogs for pets. Which makes knocking on doors to ask for candy more than interesting.

This year I took Laura and Seth to trick-or-treat at some of the local businesses after school. This has huge advantages. I feel safer about the candy, and there are usually very few, if any, dogs. After dinner Seth wanted to head out around the neighborhood for a bit, but Laura choose not to go. I think her recent reactions, along with the dog aspect, left her without any desire to venture out. Seth and I had a great time--the weather this year was incredible. And I always love time with my kiddos and a nice walk. But we did miss Laura... 

Laura did go with us to two houses. Our amazing neighbors Jackie and George, and her Aunt Brenda's house. Those two families spoiled her enough, that it more than made up for not going door to door. We are lucky to have such thoughtful neighbors and family.

After candy collecting, we always sort through all the candy. Laura's gets divided into two piles. Safe and not safe. And we NEVER take chances. If there is no label, or we are unsure-it is not safe. Period. HOWEVER, the most exciting part comes next. The other kids all trade with Laura their "safe" for "unsafe" food. Laura usually comes out in amazing fashion. All the other kids compete to try to get her unsafe candy, so she usually gets a pile of their safe candy for one of her unsafe pieces of candy. It is certainly entertaining to watch the Halloween "auction."

This year was a little different. Because of OIT, Laura has been cleared to eat food that may be cross-contaminated with peanuts. (not tree-nuts, though)  So....here is a picture of her "safe" candy this year. The pile on the left is what she could have eaten in the past. The pile on the right? That is everything that she CAN also have this year thanks to Dr. Jones. HAPPY DAY!!!