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Sacrifice and SunButter

by | Jun 8, 2010 | Blog

I just read the recent article in The Washington Post by Petula Dvorak entitled “Until peanut allergy cure is found, it’s not unreasonable to mind our PB&J’s”.  I recommend that you read it as well.  The writer begins the article in the typical don’t infringe on my right to eat peanut butter stance but the author, to her credit, visits with some families in a new peanut free area at a Washington Senators baseball game to see the other side of the story.  What she came away with was a new perspective on how taking precautions and accommodating those with food allergies can make a big difference in their quality of life.  She even equates it to some other precautions people often take,

“We take precautions every day to minimize risks, however remote, to ourselves and our children. Isn’t that why we have the kids in car seats, bike helmets and crosswalks? Why we take aspirin to help our hearts and avoid the golf course during a lightning storm?

Until a real cure is found, maybe it’s not so unreasonable to ask us to ditch our PB&Js.”

As always, the comment sections of news articles on food allergies are where two classes of people really shine: the uneducated and the uncaring.  I’m always amazed at the comments claiming that food allergies are psychosomatic.  This means my just-over one-year-old daughter (at the time of her first allergic reaction) had the mental capacity to have a psychosomatic reaction.  I find that hard to believe.  Next thing you know, they will suggest that she eat some dirt and suck on some pennies.  Oh wait, they did suggest that.

Regarding the uncaring comments, I always enjoy reading the ones that spew statements about restricting their right to eat what they want, when they want.  You know what, they’re right.  At times, I do want them to make a concession that trades their right to eat a specific food if doing so might protect my child’s life.  The way I see it.  If Christ was willing to sacrifice his life and die for someone as sinful and undeserving as me, shouldn’t I be willing to sacrifice something as minor as what food I am eating if it means that it could protect someone else, especially a child?  Independent of religion, sacrificing things for others in order to protect them is a way for us to show that we care about them.  If a person isn’t willing to make a sacrifice that might protect the life and health of someone else, what does it say about that person?

On a side note, kudos to SunButter (Twitter @sunbutter4life) for mentioning this article on Twitter even though the author states she hates sunflower butter.  SunButter is a great product that too often is cast as a substitute for peanut butter when it should just stand on its own as great tasting product.

Compassionate Kids

by | May 26, 2010 | Blog

I was reading a blog post today on VickiesIckies (a great blog by the way) about how some parents bring cupcakes to school for birthday celebrations which the kids with food allergies cannot eat leaving them excluded from the celebration.  Sometimes the treat is brought at the last minute or without being the teacher’s prior knowledge leaving the parent of the allergic child little or no time to bring a substitute treat.   The school’s answer was, “the allergic child needs to learn to deal with it”.   I starting thinking about how amazing it has been in our experience (and perhaps in yours too) that kids are often much more compassionate than adults about another child’s food allergy.

For example, my daughter has a friend who became upset with her father (a good friend by the way who shared this story with us) for eating peanuts in the car because she was worried that our daughter might accidentally be exposed to the peanuts during a carpool sometime in the future.  The 8-year old girl became so insistent that her father eventually pulled over and threw away his peanuts.  When our child was much younger her preschool teacher once told me that from time to time, parents would send in peanut butter into their nut free classroom and the children would immediately take the “offending item” directly from their lunchboxes to the teacher saying, “I can’t have this here”.  These children were three!  We have heard parents tell us that their kids did not want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch because they would be playing with our kids later in the day.  Maybe we are just fortunate that we have sweet friends, but I think there is something more to it than that.

I think kids are generally concerned about their food allergic friends because they love them and don’t want them to be hurt.  Avoiding a particular food around their food allergic friend is their way of showing them that they love them.  Parents sometimes, myself included, often look for the most convenient course of action. I will say, we are very blessed to have many adult friends that frequently bend over backwards and go far beyond the call of duty to accommodate our kids’ food allergies at their parties, for soccer snacks, etc.  But, we are wondering if you have had the same experience with kids showing great compassion as it relates to your child’s food allergy?