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.

Madagascar Party Kit

Children's Claritin® sent me a Madagascar 3 movie preview kit. I am hosting a movie night for five kids at our house. We are going to watch Madagascar 1 and/or 2 along with some snacks, games and goodie bags. I am having so much fun planing this party, it will be a circus/animal theme.  Check back for photos and an update on the Children's Claritin® Madagascar Party. Plus, I will be doing a giveaway here of a Madagascar DVD.

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

The Bugabees New Book!

I just received my copy of the Bugabees newest book, The BugyBops: Freinds for all time, by Amy Recob. I love this book, it gears towards the school age child and I find it so informative, I can't wait to read it to Nathan. The book mentions the importance of washing hands, reading labels and simple steps to staying safe with food allergies. I can't wait to read it to Nathan's class and with it being "Food Allergy Awareness Week" it is a perfect time to do so. I think his classmates can learn from it too on how to keep Nathan safe.

If you would like more information, visit www.bugabees.com
Follow the author Amy Recob on Twitter @AmyRecob

Ice Cream Party at School

Today this note came home in Nathan's backpack. Normally not an issue, but to a child that can't eat whip cream and has a severe allergy to MILK, it becomes an issue. Here are my issues, first I wish there wasn't these types of socials at school, why does everything involve food? Or at least could it be popsicles so everyone could enjoy. Second, she could have asked Nathan to bring something that he could also eat too such as sprinkles. Third, if this an ice cream party, does that mean there will be peanut toppings? It is a peanut free classroom.

I was furious when I saw this note, then I posted on my Twitter and Facebook blog page and so many of my readers, followers and friends in the allergy community were so supportive and gave me some good ideas. After talking to my husband about these ideas, we came up with a solution.

• Nathan will bring whip cream - but it will be SOY or RICE whip cream. This is a win win. He can still bring something and not feel left out, plus it is something he can also enjoy. It will just be very expensive, $5.99 a can x 2 = $12.00.
• I will be at the school scooping and supervising the ice cream party. The teacher had already asked me when she asked if I would send HIS ice cream to school. My husband told me that if I see them serving peanuts that I should just go and talk to the Principal. PEANUTS is unacceptable.
• I will bring Nathan's SOY ice cream and his own toppings. This will be chocolate syrup, sprinkles and GF crushed cookies.

This ice cream party will in a few weeks, I hope all goes well. I will follow-up to this post.

Always Check Ingredients in Medicines

I am thankful for a call from my pharmacist today. Apparently, the medicine that our allergist prescribed to our diary allergic child has traces of milk. I would have never known if they didn't call. It goes to show that allergens can be found anywhere, not just foods.

PULMICORT FLEXHALER contains small amounts of lactose, which contains trace levels of milk proteins. In patients who have severe milk protein allergy (not those who are lactose intolerant) cough, wheezing, or bronchospasm may occur.

Allergy Skin Test = FAIL

We went to our new allergist today to get a skin test done and if Nathan passed wheat then we were going to do a food challenge.. I came prepared with Oreo cookies because I know Nathan likes them and they only contain Wheat and Soy.

The nurse pricked Nathan's back with the antihistamine and then Wheat, Egg and Diary (not sure of the order). We didn't even bother doing peanuts because she basically told me he would never go out of peanuts. I am fine with that.

Within minutes his back turned bright in the spot where the allergens are and he started to develop huge welts/hives. He told us that he was very itchy = FAIL. I couldn't believe how much his skin reacted and still after all these years how allergic he still is.

In another year around his seventh birthday, we will do another skin test. In my opinion, I don't think he will ever grow out of these allergies, I can only hope for a miracle.

We can go to a Brewer Baseball Game

I am so happy to find a couple of Brewer Baseball games that we can attend this summer. There  are 5 peanut-controlled games, the sections are specially cleaned and NO Peanuts are allowed.  They have a special concession stand that will not be selling any peanuts and even a peanut free gate and path to enter to get to our seats.  These special sections are for food allergy individuals and their families only.

We are going to try it, of course we will be armed with all his medicines and inhalers and will leave immediately if he shows any signs of a reaction.

Thank you to Miller Park and the Brewers for offering this to us, it makes me so happy!! My son who wouldn't normally be able to go to a game, now can.

The seats are selling fast so if you are in the area and want to attend you can order tickets online at: http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/ticketing/peanut_controlled_form.jsp

If you are located in another state, I just found this website that posts special MLB games for individuals with peanut allergies

Grass Allergies

My husband might have grass allergies, it hasn't been diagnosed by the doctor but I think it might be pretty obvious. He was mowing the grass yesterday and his eye were watering so bad, it looked liked he was crying.  I think he needs to start taking some Claritin®.