The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter Book

The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter by Sharon Chisvin is a rhyming story about managing food allergies for young children. The girl gets upset because she has food allergies until she is reminded that everyone in her class has some different or unique about them.

I read this book to Nathan last night and he loved it and wanted me to read it again.

If you would like more information about this book or would like to purchase your own copy, visit the website www.allergypicturebook.com

I am giving away a copy of this book! If you would like to WIN a copy, please fill out the form below.

Some Laffy Taffy has Egg and Some Does Not

I just gave Nathan an Allergic Reaction...not on purpose. Apparently, some Wonka Laffy Taffy has Egg and some does not.  The little ones he usually eats,  doesn't have egg, but the larger ones like the one I gave him today does. Good to know, too bad I found out the hard way.

After he ate a couple of bites, he started crying and spitting his saliva out and I immediately gave him Benadryl. Then he started coughing and gagging. I put him in his bed and then he vomited a couple of times, he was itchy, his lips were swollen, his eyes and cheeks were red and he started sneezing. Then he become stuffy. I gave him his inhaler, he said his throat hurt. I  was ready to give him his Epi-pen but he screamed NO! After vomiting some more his color changed and he seemed to get better. It was one of worse two hours of my life. I feel so bad. Why didn't I read the ingredients? I can't believe he had an allergic reaction and it was MY fault.

I Googled the ingredients and egg allergies associated with Laffy Taffy and I found other stories similar to me mine.

ALWAYS READ INGREDIENTS.

Nathan had an Allergic Reaction

Last night before bed Nathan wanted a snack as normal. We gave him a cookie from the bakery that we have been going to every Wednesday for the last five years. He ate the cookie and immediately he said his tongue was itchy. This has happened many times from different foods so we did what we normally do and gave him Benadryl. He seemed fine and went to bed. He woke up about 30 minutes later and started coughing and threw up, a lot. This has happened when he has had milk and I immediately know this was a more serious reaction and there was milk and dairy in those cookies. Then he said his throat hurt. We immediately rushed him to the ER which is not even 5 minutes from our house.

They took him in the room and checked his lungs and all his airways and he was doing good.  His throat was still a little sore (probably from throwing up) and his eyes were really red and puffy. His skin looked pretty good, just a little redness. They wanted to keep him for a while and observe him, especially if he would have a delayed reaction. After a few hours we were discharged and went home.

He fell a sleep in the car and we carried him to bed. We went to sleep but I didn't sleep good at all.

After my husband and I talked about it, we now think we got the wrong cookies from the bakery. The cookie Nathan ate had egg and dairy in it and he was suppose to have the ones without. They should have given us the cookies from the freezer and not the ones in the case. We are going to take them back to the bakery today.

Idea from Pinterest: Sundae Toppings

This afternoon we are invited to an Last Day of School/Summer Kickoff ice cream party. We were going to a neighbors house and I wanted to bring Nathan's toppings with me so he could make his own Sundae.  I think the best part of a Sundae is putting on your own toppings (other then eating it). While browsing on Pinterest I  saw an idea of putting different toppings in a each compartment of an ice tray. That is 12 different compartments and I don't have 12 different toppings, so I decided to use a 6 count muffin pan and cupcake liners.

 Top Left to Right: Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips, Nonpareils, Chocolate Sprinkles
Bottom Left: to Right:  Marshmallows, crushed K-Toos (like Oreros), Rainbow Sprinkles

This way I knew I could keep Nathan safe without cross contamination and let him enjoy a Sundae. I think he actually had more fun making it then eating it.

Here are the items I added to his bowl before we went to the party.

Vanilla ice cream, Soy Whip and Chocolate Syrup.

No Peanut Snacks at Baseball Practice

There is a mom that is from Nathan's baseball team that is organizing a snack sign up sheet for baseball.  She called and asked me first about what Nathan can't eat, but I told her to maybe just say no peanuts to the snack list - especially since his has been airborne. We will most likely bring our own snack because Nathan is allergic to so much- feels like everything.

The first night the sign up sheet was passed around and she told all of us parents that we should not bring snacks with peanuts and one of the parents said "No Peanuts?" and the mom said "yes no peanuts, we have a child that is allergic" and pointed to Nathan. We were called out but that is ok, I want my child to be safe.

Our Madagascar Movie Preview Party

As a member of the Children's Claritin® Mom Crew, I had a opportunity to host a Madagascar 3 movie review party on Friday night.  Nathan had some friends over and we watched Madagascar 1 and 2. The children enjoyed snacks such as popcorn, cupcakes and fruit snacks. They brought their sleeping bags and had a great time.

I made goody bags with animals, a zebra pencil, Madagascar stickers and fruit snacks. The moms enjoyed Children's Claritin® samples and coupons.

Madagascar 3 is out in theaters June 8th. Watch the trailer here. Visit Claritin®  for more information and coupons here.

All the snacks I served were Dairy, Egg, Wheat and Peanut free. I got the "Popcorn Cupcake"  (pictured above bottom left) idea from Pinterest and made it "allergy safe" for Nathan.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary viewing party kit as a Children’s Claritin Mom Ambassador.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Last week at school, it was "School of Learning" kind of like an "Open House" but at the end of the year where parents visit the classroom and see all the work their child has done.

A few weeks ago was "Teacher Appreciation Week" and the "class moms" made a poster for the teacher that had cute sayings using candy bars.
(similar to this one pictured below)

We did get an email explaining this:
The kids will be giving Mrs.________ a very similar version of this poster.  We have provided the supplies!  (I realize there are some severe allergies in our classroom so all candy will stay 

packaged and the kiddos will not be handling it).


I didn't notice the PAYDAY (made of all peanuts) candy bar in photo, but I did notice it in the classroom at school when we went to visit.

If you have a child with a severe Peanut allergy, how would you feel about this in your child's classroom? How far do I go with this kind off stuff. Do I want to be known as the CRAZY allergy mom? But at the same time it is my job to keep my child SAFE.

For my child, this is pretty much the same as having a locked gun in the classroom and they don't have locked guns in the class. Peanuts to my child could be as deadly as a gun to another child. They both can KILL.