Peanut Allergy

I was walking out of my oldest child's school today and noticed a "peanut free zone" sign on one of the classrooms. I know the district is looking at implementing a policy to address the various allergies that are "on the rise" and "potentially life threatening".


In my life I have only known 2 people with such horrible allergies that they need to carry an epi-pen with them. One is my nephew, he is so allergic to egg white that he swells up in the throat if an egg is cracked in his presence. Cooked egg is fine. He is now 16 and has had only a few episodes, but none that ever required actual use of the pen.


Person number 2: My dad - he is allergic to bee stings and fortunately or unfortunately found out while being allergy tested. The small amount that they inject caused his arm to swell and it was going right to his throat. Fortunately he was at the office so he could get the shot right there. I don't know if he ever had to use an epi-pen after that.


I know a lot of my opinion comes from my ignorance. I'd like to meet these kids and their parents. I'd like to talk to them, see their test results of their IgE test and know that they are truly allergic.

I've read a few articles to try and educate myself. All say it is only 1% of the entire population that is allergic. 25% of parents think their child is allergic, but only 4% truly are.

I'm all for a separate table at school, rules of no raw peanuts in the shell, or even bags of peanuts. But please don't tell my kid that has eating issues that a granola bar is not allowed in school because the peanut allergic kid might die.

Sort of like politics - Fear mongering brings change. I think we used to use the phrase - squeaky wheel gets the grease. Now that I write that I think I know why they don't use that phrase (when you add a 'd' to the grease).

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Children are a parent's best mirror

I just want to start off by saying that nothing I write will probably be anything profound or new. I may repeat myself often, just a sign that it is my conviction. I won't have the best English, but I'm not trying to be a novelist. This is just may way to create a living diary of my thoughts. Maybe someday, someone, hopefully my children, will read it and gather some wisdom of their own. Or they may just think I'm crazy...as that may be true!

So today I wake up excited to embark on the new world of Blogging. Yes as a sort of middle-aged woman, I have become a technological dimwit. I used to have the coolest, latest and gratest computers. I remember several geek calls to Compaq trying to retrofit my Pesario with a DVD player and TV tuner. Imagine being able to watch movies on your computer or TV on your computer.

Today's thought: If you really want to know who you are, watch your child in play. They mimic their parents.

Unfortunately, the bad is mimiced as often as the good. My oldest daughter often raises her voice at her sister. Too often I say to myself "Boy, did that ever sound like her mama." She plays nicely most of the time, but when it comes to discipline, she wants to step right in.

This morning my youngest daughter really drove this point home. And I smiled since it was positive (she's too young yet to do the yelling). She was gathering up her dollies and aligned them on the rocking chair. She was humming something to them and rocking the chair. Then she climbed up right next to them. I came into view and asked her if she wanted to read to the babies. She said "Yep". (She says Yep to everything). I handed her a book and walked out of sight.

I watched her "reading" the book with a loving tone and inflection. I smiled to know that she must feel loved and that our ritual of rocking and reading is so important that she shares it with her dollies.

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