Little Melvin can't be exposed to peanuts (2 Viewers)

[mom Bridget]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

Actually odds are, there are plenty of peanut-allergic people in NYC. By the grace of God, they have not met you.

 

[14464]

Screw that kid. I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

He has had the allergy since age 1, he is now 12 and attends public middle school. I have never asked for a "ban" of any type at school. This year, new school, I only asked that I could get a copy of the planned menu one week in advance and if the school was to serve a peanut product (PB cookies / PB cake / etc) then I would send a lunch from home and he could eat in the teacher's lounge. I knew if they were cooking enough PB cake with PB icing for 400 kids, the smell would at least cause him to toss his own cookies. The school decided to remove peanut items from the menu. Instead of PB cookies, they serve chocolate chip or sugar cookies. The school called and said "What about canteen, we do sell Reece's and Snicker's, etc." My reply "I do not expect you to remove these items. My son knows not to eat them and can move away from a child eating a peanut candy bar. It's just hard to avoid 400 kids in the lunchroom eating PB cake". My son carries his medicine on him at all times in case of an accidental exposure. By the way, a contact reaction would be uncomfortable for him, but an ingestion reaction is the potential killer.

Homeschool is not an option when both parents must work to pay the mortgage and utility bills. Unfortunately, peanut allergy can strike any family, not just the upper middle-class with a stay at home mom.

I am addressing parents whose children can die from contact of peanuts and insist on other people changing, even with change the odds are too great IMO to take that chance. When parents make other parents not make PJ&J, etc and still have their kids attend schools, that to me throws up a flag that this is really a non issue because if it was, there is no way a sane parent would take a chance.

 

[14464]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something. But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

Actually odds are, there are plenty of peanut-allergic people in NYC. By the grace of God, they have not met you.

Edit: I personally know 8 teachers in 7 different NYC schools, and you? Oh, and NONE of them have kids whose parents have expressed that they have peanut issues.

 

[Nutcracker]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

Yes. I'm teaching my child to live in the real world. I also let my child ride in automobiles, <<gasp>>, but with seatbelts, a competent driver, and in a mechanically sound vehicle. But, go ahead, continue to impress me with similiar insight.

 

[Deepster]

There's a whooooooole lotta ignorance here. I expect some, I expect the non-parents trying to be funny to crinkle up their noses at food allergies like this, but I'll say this.

It's serious enough where a Federal Law is passed effective 1/1/06 that says all food products need to indicate on their labels if they contain "The Big 8"...which is the current top 8 food allergy items.

My daughter has Celiac's Disease which is a gluten (wheat, barley, rye) allergy. Her intestines can become severely damaged and her ability to extract nutrients from food is taken away. Later on in life, she can get stomach cancer, diverticulitis, Crohn's disease or colitis. It's to the point where we need separate toasters, cutting boards, butter containers, etc. She can't have ANY wheat.

And for those thinking this is some new disease effecting "weak" kids, the top two categories of people being diagnosed are: a) under 2 years of age (my daughter is 17 months old) or b) people in their 40's-50's. The older folks have lived with the disease unknowingly their whole life and are being diagnosed because they now have later stage serious intestinal disorders. Translation: The disease has been around a long time, diagnosed in Europe and Asia and we've just said "Oh, it's just stomach cancer. The dude's unlucky" until recently.

So, if you have severe cramps, diarrhea or gastro issues, you just may want to check it out. It's one of the nation's top 10 most undiagnosed diseases (1 in every 130 people have this) and instead of making fun of a kid that can't eat peanuts, you could be reading a little and saving yourself lots of colonoscopies and discomfort.

Gluten.net

 

[shining path]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

 

[14464]

Screw that kid. I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

Yes. I'm teaching my child to live in the real world. I also let my child ride in automobiles, <<gasp>>, but with seatbelts, a competent driver, and in a mechanically sound vehicle. But, go ahead, continue to impress me with similiar insight.

After reading your initial posting, to be honest, you are the parent everyone rolls their eyes at. So yes you are a great parent teaching your child to live in the real world but willing to take a chance on them coming in contact with peanuts. To be honest, I don't buy the new 'Come in contact with peanuts it will kill your child', the real issue is either the mental state of the parent or genetic issues parents passed on to their child. Not a peanut, come on.

 

[mom Bridget]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

I'll go out on a limb here and say no kids in East St. Louis are allergic to peanuts.

Well, as peanut allergies now affect 8% of the population (2002) statistically, there probably are some even in East St. Louis. http://www.emaxhealth.com/59/3241.html

 

[shining path]

The only rational direction this thread can take is towards a discussion of attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress, and antidepressants.

 

[14464]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

 

[OddibeMcD]

The only rational direction this thread can take is towards a discussion of attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress, and antidepressants.

You can even go further back than that...I don't believe in these new "microbes," people get sick because of evil spirits.Parents don't want to see their kids get excluded. Social development is as large a part of maturation as anything else in a kids life. To move people with these allergies to second class citizen status is wholly unconstitutional and illegal as defined through numerous legislation. Just like a few little league dads gave the father of every athlete a black eye, the overzealous antipeanut pushers seem to give the vast majority of the parents of allergic youths bad names. A woman like this that is able to work with others is much different than the one who was b***hing out some poor Dunkin Donuts employees.

 

[mom Bridget]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

Actually odds are, there are plenty of peanut-allergic people in NYC. By the grace of God, they have not met you.

Edit: I personally know 8 teachers in 7 different NYC schools, and you? Oh, and NONE of them have kids whose parents have expressed that they have peanut issues.

OK, and because my child does not live in NYC, his allergy doesn't exist? YEAH! (I've been looking for a loophole to this whole allergy thing. It get's very tiring)

 

[shining path]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

Well, maybe I'm misinterpreting your posts, but it seems like you're saying two things: first, peanut allergy is a fiction conjured up by weenie, hand-wringing parents and/or greedy pediatricians. And second, that the steps that parents of affected kids are asking schools to take are disproportional. You might have a point on the second (I don't have a kid so who cares what I think), but your first point is wrong.

 

[mom Bridget]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

So the next time my kid has an allergic reaction to that so important (to some) peanut, when he swells and turns blue..... I should just say: Sorry, just don't buy it. :X

 

[mom Bridget]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

He has had the allergy since age 1, he is now 12 and attends public middle school. I have never asked for a "ban" of any type at school. This year, new school, I only asked that I could get a copy of the planned menu one week in advance and if the school was to serve a peanut product (PB cookies / PB cake / etc) then I would send a lunch from home and he could eat in the teacher's lounge. I knew if they were cooking enough PB cake with PB icing for 400 kids, the smell would at least cause him to toss his own cookies. The school decided to remove peanut items from the menu. Instead of PB cookies, they serve chocolate chip or sugar cookies. The school called and said "What about canteen, we do sell Reece's and Snicker's, etc." My reply "I do not expect you to remove these items. My son knows not to eat them and can move away from a child eating a peanut candy bar. It's just hard to avoid 400 kids in the lunchroom eating PB cake". My son carries his medicine on him at all times in case of an accidental exposure. By the way, a contact reaction would be uncomfortable for him, but an ingestion reaction is the potential killer.

Homeschool is not an option when both parents must work to pay the mortgage and utility bills. Unfortunately, peanut allergy can strike any family, not just the upper middle-class with a stay at home mom.

I am addressing parents whose children can die from contact of peanuts and insist on other people changing, even with change the odds are too great IMO to take that chance. When parents make other parents not make PJ&J, etc and still have their kids attend schools, that to me throws up a flag that this is really a non issue because if it was, there is no way a sane parent would take a chance.

Um, my kid 'could' die from contact of peanuts. If your kid smeared the PB on a doorknob after eating lunch. Then my kid touched the doorknob, then rubbed his eye. It then is "ingested" into the body. That's when all he!! breaks loose and an anaphylatic reaction could occur. So, I understand WHY parents of elementary age kids ask for you not to send your kid to school with a PB&J or any obvious peanut product. Eat them at home, in your car, on the street corner, just not in the school.

 

[Educator]

I am the mother of 3 wonderful kids. The oldest of the three is in first grade this year. Thankfully none of them have food allergies. My first grader is a very picky eater; I can’t get her to eat any meat at all, with the exception of chicken nuggets and salami. Something she does love though is peanut butter and jelly. In facts its one of the only things I can get her to eat in sandwich form.

About 2 weeks before school started for her last year I received a letter stating that peanuts and peanut products would not be allowed at the school due to a child who had a severe peanut allergy. Was I annoyed? Oh, you bet I was. I even decided to fight the ban. I called newspapers, wrote letters to the editor, called television stations and rallied other parents together who felt the same way I did and asked them to attend the school board meeting and “make our voices heard”.

Then I went online to find ammunition. I wanted to read everything I could to be prepared at that meeting. What I wasn’t prepared for though was getting an education along the way.

You started reading this thinking that I was going to be another ticked off mom that opposed a peanut ban. Surprise… I whole heartedly support a ban in elementary schools.

You see, I found a site for people with life threatening allergies and I wanted to hear what they had to say so I posed my question. “Do you really think a ban is necessary?” I didn’t really care what they had to say, I was skimming through the posts looking for people who supported my argument, and surprisingly some did. But then I really looked at what everybody had to say, and they all had one thing in common. They just wanted their kids to be safe and they wanted them to be able to be kids, if only for a little while.

You see, the word allergy is misleading. I know when I hear the word allergy my first thought was sneezing, itchy watery eyes, maybe a few hives. You take a benadryl and there you go. Well peanut allergies are not that simple.

Picture this, a child in the lunch room has a pb&j sandwich, that child does not wash their hands after lunch and goes out to recess where they proceed to play on the equipment. That child climbs up the slide ladder and slides down. Right behind him (her) is another child; only this one has a peanut allergy. They climb the ladder and by the time they reach the top they already have hives and itching, they know they have come in contact with peanuts. They slide down the slide and by the time they reach the bottom their airway is shut off and they cant breath, they cant run for help, they cant do anything but hope that somebody has noticed what is going on and reacts quick enough with a shot of epinephrine. Luckily the teacher does notice and has the epi-pen on hand.

Great you are thinking right? WRONG, even though the teacher has reacted quickly and did everything she was supposed to do, that child is now waiting for an ambulance. You see, the epi-pen is not a “get out of allergy free” card. It only slows down the reaction enough to allow time for emergency medical help to arrive. The child is hanging on by a thread by the time they reach the hospital, but they make it and the doctors meet them at the door. Well here’s the other kick in the pants, there is no guarantee that they can stop anaphylaxis, and there is no guarantee that he will respond to anything they do. He could still die. All because some parent couldn’t be inconvenienced enough to remove peanut butter from one of the 5 meals their child would eat at school.

That’s right, your child will eat 21 meals in the course of a week, only 5 of them are in school, eliminating peanut butter and peanut products from those 5 are not going to put your child in danger, but not eliminating them will put another child in danger.

I know all the arguments that are going through your head, and let me go through them one by one.

1. What if a child is allergic to bee stings, do you ban recess?

Well, no you don't, but you don't put them in a room full of bees either. In elementary school a majority of the kids bring pb&j, for whatever reason, whether it be economical, convenient, or just because its something you don't have to fight with them to eat. Therefore the allergic child is put in a life or death situation daily. Residue is left everywhere and unless it is properly cleaned up, it can remain there for days, putting that child at risk everywhere he goes in that school.

2. What happens when they go out in the real world?

In the real world they do just fine. Their parents make sure to wipe things down that may be contaminated, but out in the real world they won’t be forced into a condensed area with the food that is most toxic to them. They go to parks, and beaches. They do practically everything our kids do. In a class room you wouldn’t be able to pick out which ones are allergic and which ones aren’t. They are normal everyday kids.

3. What about all the other food allergies?

Yes, there are other food allergies that are just as severe as peanut allergies. Some of the most common are milk, wheat, seafood, soy, sesame, and egg. However with these other allergies it is rare for them to cause an airborne reaction, or a severe contact reaction. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but not as often as it does with peanut allergies.

4. With an allergy so severe you should home school.

I don't know about you, but I couldn’t home school. I am not that patient. Some states require that the parent that is home schooling to be a college grad. There are single moms and dads who need to work so they can’t home school. There are many reasons why home schooling isn’t for everyone. Just because you have a child with a food allergy doesn’t make you automatically equipped to be their teacher.

5. What about before school? What if my kid has peanut butter toast?

Truth is, you don't have to stop your child from having peanut butter at home. You can, if you choose, be considerate enough to not to serve your child peanut butter before school, but if you do, the risk of causing a reaction in an allergic child is still smaller than a lunchroom full of the stuff. The risk is smaller still if you make sure they wash their face and hands and brush their teeth after eating it.

6. Where do you draw the line?

That is a very good question, because you are right, there are other food allergies. So should the school ban milk and eggs and everything else that can cause anaphylactic shock? If there are kids in the school that are allergic to them, well the answer is yes. You see the school has to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Translated that means that public schools have a LEGAL obligation to provide a safe learning environment for ALL students, not just the majority. The answer to the above question is that the line is drawn when the unique needs of the community served by that school have been met.

Look, it’s not easy to put your child in the hands of strangers when you know that some of them may have just eaten or are bringing to lunch the thing that is poison to your child, and they would home school if they could, but just like you and I, sometimes that is not an option.

Contrary to what some of you believe; these parents are not trying to take anything away from our kids. They just want their kids to be safe and maybe a little carefree for a short time in their lives. Let’s face it. Asking kids this age to be responsible for life and death on a daily basis is just crazy, they are after all kids, and they don't always think before they act.

These parents know that the school will never be completely free from these products, they are not stupid; and they don't expect us to shop for our children like they are the ones with this deadly allergy; but one less sandwich, one less snack containing these foods being brought to school is one less risk to their child’s life.

All parents dealing with peanut allergies have different comfort zones. Most of them do not allow their children to eat anything other than what they (the parents) provide. When shopping for your child however, the only things that most (some) pa parents want is actual peanuts (tree nuts) and products containing peanuts to be omitted from the schools. Products that may contain or are packaged in a facility that processes peanuts are of minimal risk to their children. Their child would actually have to ingest them to have a reaction. Now there are exceptions to this rule, for instance, Granola bars are may contain (most do contain) and tend to be very sticky, if it is indeed peanut containing and the sticky residue isn’t cleaned properly, it can cause a reaction in the allergic child. I do repeat, parents have different comfort zones, some are stricter than others.

Thinking back to last year, I put my daughter on the bus for the first time in her life and I was afraid that she wouldn’t know where to go once she got to school, and I was afraid that she would forget to raise her hand before she spoke. I was really afraid that she would get on the wrong bus coming home; of course through the year I didn’t worry about these things anymore. But the parents of children with life-threatening allergies are scared every day that this will be the day they get the dreaded call that their child is en route to the hospital because of a common everyday peanut product. They have to worry whether or not their child will ever come home again. I don't know about you, but I thank God that I don't have to send my daughter off to school everyday in fear that I will never see her alive again. These parents would love to worry about the little things.

When I looked back at my initial reaction of being opposed to the ban, I am ashamed. When I was honest with myself, I mean completely honest, I was mad because I was going to be inconvenienced. I was willing to put a little boy’s life in danger so my daughter could eat a sandwich she liked. What does that say about me?

I was mad because I felt like my daughter was being deprived of something she wanted, funny thing is, when I told my daughter what was going on, she was absolutely fine with not being able to take pb&j for lunch, in fact, she said she didn’t want to take it if it could hurt an other child.

Maybe we should all take a lesson from our kids.

 

[Nutcracker]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

I seriously hope that you are nicer to the school/teacher/people in general when explaining about your childs allergies. You win peoples attention by being nice. If your above response is your typical response, you would have pissed me off and to be honest, you never know what a pissed off person will/would do (you would hope not, but I think its correct). Just remember "you attract more bees with honey."

In light of this reply, you actually wonder why I don't try to "win peoples attention by being nice"??? hallelujia. (have you ever sat through *twenty* some IEP meetings being *nice* and getting stonewalled by district lawyers and flat out refusal to accommodate, flat out refusal to obey public health laws enumerating specific situations *in schools* and associated individual rights (carrying lifesaving asthma medications)? What a treat if you haven't.

Great thing about *enforceable* federal laws is I don't have to cater to pissed off people. (Personally? After a long, long, long time, I've found it doesn't make much of a difference anyway, just increases bladder size but, HEY, I COULD BE WRONG, IT WOULDN'T BE A FIRST. for me, for anyone.) Besides, I leave the therapy to the professionals.

I only kiss ###es that deserve it.

By the way, our school district had, ahem, significant staff turnover. The current administration is fabulous.

Gee. I read page after page of vile comments, I relate my simple circumstance and, wow, I'm the one who needs to sweeten up.

 

[Foosball God]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

 

[FatMax]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

I seriously hope that you are nicer to the school/teacher/people in general when explaining about your childs allergies. You win peoples attention by being nice. If your above response is your typical response, you would have pissed me off and to be honest, you never know what a pissed off person will/would do (you would hope not, but I think its correct). Just remember "you attract more bees with honey."

In light of this reply, you actually wonder why I don't try to "win peoples attention by being nice"??? hallelujia. (have you ever sat through *twenty* some IEP meetings being *nice* and getting stonewalled by district lawyers and flat out refusal to accommodate, flat out refusal to obey public health laws enumerating specific situations *in schools* and associated individual rights (carrying lifesaving asthma medications)? What a treat if you haven't.

Great thing about *enforceable* federal laws is I don't have to cater to pissed off people. (Personally? After a long, long, long time, I've found it doesn't make much of a difference anyway, just increases bladder size but, HEY, I COULD BE WRONG, IT WOULDN'T BE A FIRST. for me, for anyone.) Besides, I leave the therapy to the professionals.

I only kiss ###es that deserve it.

By the way, our school district had, ahem, significant staff turnover. The current administration is fabulous.

Gee. I read page after page of vile comments, I relate my simple circumstance and, wow, I'm the one who needs to sweeten up.

You're a real sweetie.

 

[mom Bridget]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

I agree!! Compromise!! Keep the PB&J's and the obvious peanut products at home (PB crackers, PB cookies, peanut M&M's). If you want to send a "may contain" product (regular M&M, Cheese Ritz Bitz, twix bar) no big deal. I have to read labels, I don't stress over others reading labels. You can understand a peanut M&M has peanuts in it without reading a label. The only time I would hope you would read a label is if you are sending a snack for the ENTIRE class. That way, you can be sure that EVERYONE can enjoy that snack.

Nice meeting you, Foosball God

 

[FatMax]

I am the mother of 3 wonderful kids. The oldest of the three is in first grade this year. Thankfully none of them have food allergies. My first grader is a very picky eater; I can’t get her to eat any meat at all, with the exception of chicken nuggets and salami. Something she does love though is peanut butter and jelly. In facts its one of the only things I can get her to eat in sandwich form.

About 2 weeks before school started for her last year I received a letter stating that peanuts and peanut products would not be allowed at the school due to a child who had a severe peanut allergy. Was I annoyed? Oh, you bet I was. I even decided to fight the ban. I called newspapers, wrote letters to the editor, called television stations and rallied other parents together who felt the same way I did and asked them to attend the school board meeting and “make our voices heard”.

Then I went online to find ammunition. I wanted to read everything I could to be prepared at that meeting. What I wasn’t prepared for though was getting an education along the way.

You started reading this thinking that I was going to be another ticked off mom that opposed a peanut ban. Surprise… I whole heartedly support a ban in elementary schools.

You see, I found a site for people with life threatening allergies and I wanted to hear what they had to say so I posed my question. “Do you really think a ban is necessary?” I didn’t really care what they had to say, I was skimming through the posts looking for people who supported my argument, and surprisingly some did. But then I really looked at what everybody had to say, and they all had one thing in common. They just wanted their kids to be safe and they wanted them to be able to be kids, if only for a little while.

You see, the word allergy is misleading. I know when I hear the word allergy my first thought was sneezing, itchy watery eyes, maybe a few hives. You take a benadryl and there you go. Well peanut allergies are not that simple.

Picture this, a child in the lunch room has a pb&j sandwich, that child does not wash their hands after lunch and goes out to recess where they proceed to play on the equipment. That child climbs up the slide ladder and slides down. Right behind him (her) is another child; only this one has a peanut allergy. They climb the ladder and by the time they reach the top they already have hives and itching, they know they have come in contact with peanuts. They slide down the slide and by the time they reach the bottom their airway is shut off and they cant breath, they cant run for help, they cant do anything but hope that somebody has noticed what is going on and reacts quick enough with a shot of epinephrine. Luckily the teacher does notice and has the epi-pen on hand.

Great you are thinking right? WRONG, even though the teacher has reacted quickly and did everything she was supposed to do, that child is now waiting for an ambulance. You see, the epi-pen is not a “get out of allergy free” card. It only slows down the reaction enough to allow time for emergency medical help to arrive. The child is hanging on by a thread by the time they reach the hospital, but they make it and the doctors meet them at the door. Well here’s the other kick in the pants, there is no guarantee that they can stop anaphylaxis, and there is no guarantee that he will respond to anything they do. He could still die. All because some parent couldn’t be inconvenienced enough to remove peanut butter from one of the 5 meals their child would eat at school.

That’s right, your child will eat 21 meals in the course of a week, only 5 of them are in school, eliminating peanut butter and peanut products from those 5 are not going to put your child in danger, but not eliminating them will put another child in danger.

I know all the arguments that are going through your head, and let me go through them one by one.

1. What if a child is allergic to bee stings, do you ban recess?

Well, no you don't, but you don't put them in a room full of bees either. In elementary school a majority of the kids bring pb&j, for whatever reason, whether it be economical, convenient, or just because its something you don't have to fight with them to eat. Therefore the allergic child is put in a life or death situation daily. Residue is left everywhere and unless it is properly cleaned up, it can remain there for days, putting that child at risk everywhere he goes in that school.

2. What happens when they go out in the real world?

In the real world they do just fine. Their parents make sure to wipe things down that may be contaminated, but out in the real world they won’t be forced into a condensed area with the food that is most toxic to them. They go to parks, and beaches. They do practically everything our kids do. In a class room you wouldn’t be able to pick out which ones are allergic and which ones aren’t. They are normal everyday kids.

3. What about all the other food allergies?

Yes, there are other food allergies that are just as severe as peanut allergies. Some of the most common are milk, wheat, seafood, soy, sesame, and egg. However with these other allergies it is rare for them to cause an airborne reaction, or a severe contact reaction. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but not as often as it does with peanut allergies.

4. With an allergy so severe you should home school.

I don't know about you, but I couldn’t home school. I am not that patient. Some states require that the parent that is home schooling to be a college grad. There are single moms and dads who need to work so they can’t home school. There are many reasons why home schooling isn’t for everyone. Just because you have a child with a food allergy doesn’t make you automatically equipped to be their teacher.

5. What about before school? What if my kid has peanut butter toast?

Truth is, you don't have to stop your child from having peanut butter at home. You can, if you choose, be considerate enough to not to serve your child peanut butter before school, but if you do, the risk of causing a reaction in an allergic child is still smaller than a lunchroom full of the stuff. The risk is smaller still if you make sure they wash their face and hands and brush their teeth after eating it.

6. Where do you draw the line?

That is a very good question, because you are right, there are other food allergies. So should the school ban milk and eggs and everything else that can cause anaphylactic shock? If there are kids in the school that are allergic to them, well the answer is yes. You see the school has to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Translated that means that public schools have a LEGAL obligation to provide a safe learning environment for ALL students, not just the majority. The answer to the above question is that the line is drawn when the unique needs of the community served by that school have been met.

Look, it’s not easy to put your child in the hands of strangers when you know that some of them may have just eaten or are bringing to lunch the thing that is poison to your child, and they would home school if they could, but just like you and I, sometimes that is not an option.

Contrary to what some of you believe; these parents are not trying to take anything away from our kids. They just want their kids to be safe and maybe a little carefree for a short time in their lives. Let’s face it. Asking kids this age to be responsible for life and death on a daily basis is just crazy, they are after all kids, and they don't always think before they act.

These parents know that the school will never be completely free from these products, they are not stupid; and they don't expect us to shop for our children like they are the ones with this deadly allergy; but one less sandwich, one less snack containing these foods being brought to school is one less risk to their child’s life.

All parents dealing with peanut allergies have different comfort zones. Most of them do not allow their children to eat anything other than what they (the parents) provide. When shopping for your child however, the only things that most (some) pa parents want is actual peanuts (tree nuts) and products containing peanuts to be omitted from the schools. Products that may contain or are packaged in a facility that processes peanuts are of minimal risk to their children. Their child would actually have to ingest them to have a reaction. Now there are exceptions to this rule, for instance, Granola bars are may contain (most do contain) and tend to be very sticky, if it is indeed peanut containing and the sticky residue isn’t cleaned properly, it can cause a reaction in the allergic child. I do repeat, parents have different comfort zones, some are stricter than others.

Thinking back to last year, I put my daughter on the bus for the first time in her life and I was afraid that she wouldn’t know where to go once she got to school, and I was afraid that she would forget to raise her hand before she spoke. I was really afraid that she would get on the wrong bus coming home; of course through the year I didn’t worry about these things anymore. But the parents of children with life-threatening allergies are scared every day that this will be the day they get the dreaded call that their child is en route to the hospital because of a common everyday peanut product. They have to worry whether or not their child will ever come home again. I don't know about you, but I thank God that I don't have to send my daughter off to school everyday in fear that I will never see her alive again. These parents would love to worry about the little things.

When I looked back at my initial reaction of being opposed to the ban, I am ashamed. When I was honest with myself, I mean completely honest, I was mad because I was going to be inconvenienced. I was willing to put a little boy’s life in danger so my daughter could eat a sandwich she liked. What does that say about me?

I was mad because I felt like my daughter was being deprived of something she wanted, funny thing is, when I told my daughter what was going on, she was absolutely fine with not being able to take pb&j for lunch, in fact, she said she didn’t want to take it if it could hurt an other child.

Maybe we should all take a lesson from our kids.

Good post, but I hate the alarmist tone. I have no doubt that it is real, but most would here (maybe all) don't know of a child that has been killed in a peanut related accident from second-hand peanut debris on a playground. Could it happen? Probably. Could lightning strike my home right now and fry me as I type? It is also possible.Most dangers can be quantified. This one is a little more difficult. I think that is the biggest problem. When we (the collective message board) get most of our information from parent of affected kids, it is hard to look at the information as unbiased. Most of you have a personal interest in this. Great. Please back up your claims with documented stories and/or studies.

P.S. Don't read this in a condescending tone please. Not trying to come across that way.

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis. Try it.

 

[Foosball God]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

I agree!! Compromise!! Keep the PB&J's and the obvious peanut products at home (PB crackers, PB cookies, peanut M&M's). If you want to send a "may contain" product (regular M&M, Cheese Ritz Bitz, twix bar) no big deal. I have to read labels, I don't stress over others reading labels. You can understand a peanut M&M has peanuts in it without reading a label. The only time I would hope you would read a label is if you are sending a snack for the ENTIRE class. That way, you can be sure that EVERYONE can enjoy that snack.

Nice meeting you, Foosball God

Hey, I'm a parent too. Thankfully my kids, 2 1/2 and 1, haven't shown any food allergies. But I can at least begin to imagine the fear of something happening to them.Nice meeting you too mom Bridget. If you stay around here at all you will find the FFA is just like any large community. There are some great people and some lousy ones, and in the course of a day you can think a single person is both.

 

[mom Bridget]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

I agree!! Compromise!! Keep the PB&J's and the obvious peanut products at home (PB crackers, PB cookies, peanut M&M's). If you want to send a "may contain" product (regular M&M, Cheese Ritz Bitz, twix bar) no big deal. I have to read labels, I don't stress over others reading labels. You can understand a peanut M&M has peanuts in it without reading a label. The only time I would hope you would read a label is if you are sending a snack for the ENTIRE class. That way, you can be sure that EVERYONE can enjoy that snack.

Nice meeting you, Foosball God

Hey, I'm a parent too. Thankfully my kids, 2 1/2 and 1, haven't shown any food allergies. But I can at least begin to imagine the fear of something happening to them.Nice meeting you too mom Bridget. If you stay around here at all you will find the FFA is just like any large community. There are some great people and some lousy ones, and in the course of a day you can think a single person is both.

Well, I really do LOVE football. But, I'm just visiting! I'm going to sign out now as my peanut-allergic FOOTBALL playing exchange student wants to use the computer. So I must leave to make room for #8!Have a blessed day,

Bridget

 

[Educator]

Good post, but I hate the alarmist tone. I have no doubt that it is real, but most would here (maybe all) don't know of a child that has been killed in a peanut related accident from second-hand peanut debris on a playground. Could it happen? Probably. Could lightning strike my home right now and fry me as I type? It is also possible.

Most dangers can be quantified. This one is a little more difficult. I think that is the biggest problem. When we (the collective message board) get most of our information from parent of affected kids, it is hard to look at the information as unbiased. Most of you have a personal interest in this. Great. Please back up your claims with documented stories and/or studies.

P.S. Don't read this in a condescending tone please. Not trying to come across that way.

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis. Try it.

Unfortunately it happens more often than lightning striking your house. Kids die every year in school due to life-threatening allergies. I dont remember the statistic right off hand, but its scary. Alot of those deaths are from second hand contamination.I know its hard sometimes to take the information that is given to you when people are biased, but when you take the time to learn about them, you find the facts. Like I said before. I am not dealing with food allergies at all. I went looking for information and I found statistics, and found stories that made it all real for me.

What is all boils down to is that parents who are not affected by this allergy assume (I did too) that the parents who have allergic kids want us to be just as diligent as they are, thats not the case at all. They dont care if our kids have may contains, they just want us to use common sense. Peanut M&M's no, reg m&m, as long as none is given to their child, ok.

 

[e-mom]

Welcome to the discussion E-Mom. I am personally curious about the average level of affliction from peanut based allergies. Is it more common for a child to suffer mild to moderate or moderate to extreme reaction when coming into contact?

Schlzm

Oh my goodness! I'm being tackled...quick someone help me answer all these questions Unfortunately, the answer to this question is that no one knows. I've been dealing with my son's peanut allergy since he was 17 months old, he's now almost 7. At that time, I gave him a bit of peanut butter and within about 10 minutes half of his lower lip swelled and he had blisters all around his mouth. Otherwise, he was playing as if nothing had happened. I didn't know what happened to him either other than he looked as if he had been in a fight.

At the advice of his pediatrician, I took him to an allergist to have him tested for peanuts. That's our story and we've been avoiding peanuts ever since. The allergist had also told us that since there is such a high cross contamination between peanuts and tree nuts to keep him away from tree nuts as well (even though he tested negative to 8 tree nuts as well as testing negative to sesame seed) (these were there standard tests, I didn't ask that he be tested for other things as well).

Through educating myself and learning through the years that the next exposure to whatever the allergy may be could possible be an anaphylactic one. Then again, it might not be. We just don't know. My son has had only 1 reaction that's when he was 17 months old.

On a side note, my little one (I have 3 boys, almost 7, 5 and 2 1/2 and already Patriot fans even though we are in the windy city) had an allergic reaction to Children's Motrin two weeks ago. Both of his lips were swelled so big that I was calling it a "Pamela Anderson collegen injection gone bad", his eye lids started to swell and he had severe hives underneath his armpits. Needless to say, that when I saw his eyelids swelling I had to call 911 because it was after I had given him Benadryl and his symptoms were progressing fast. Ambulance and fire truck came (boys loved this part ) and we were whisked away to the hospital with all kinds of things stuck in him including an IV of more Benadryl. He's fine now but we have to keep him away from Motrin, Advil (anything with Ibuprofen) as well as aspirin. <phew, am I sounding long winded yet? ;p >

My comfort zone with my son's peanut allergy is very lax compared to most. We eat out at restaurants a lot, go to baseball games, etc. etc.

Ok, let's see what else...

Perhaps this is more of a genetic thing than allergy thing, come on two of your kids have something you don't really know but COULD severly harm them? I really have to draw caution to the wind here especially whenever you come into contact with a child who has special food needs, you will most likely see a parent who is hyper sensetive and sure enough has more than one child who has this rare allergy. Come on.

I said that I only have 1 child that has a peanut allergy and it's actually becoming a lot more common than you might think? Why? Heck if I know. I wish I did. My 3rd child is the one that had a reaction to Children's Motrin. Millions of people are allergic to many different types of medicines. It's not a rare thing at all.

I don't have any known allergies.

 

[e-mom]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

Just wanting you to know that I agree with you 100%.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

She said "make sure your boy stays away from my boy, he's allergic to peanuts."

That right there is the attitude I can't stand. Everybody on the freakin planet has to watch out for my kid. I always feel sorry for the kid - but I'm even more dumbfounded by the actions of parents who know their kid could die. We need one huge peanut-free school.

 

[e-mom]

Excellent discussion e-mom. Your attitude is what I would hope for from all parents who have to deal with this.

Being a parent myself I can certainly understand the tendancy to go overboard though.

Thank you I just try to help educate those that do not know or understand about peanut allergies.

 

[FatMax]

Good post, but I hate the alarmist tone.  I have no doubt that it is real, but most would here (maybe all) don't know of a child that has been killed in a peanut related accident from second-hand peanut debris on a playground.  Could it happen?  Probably.  Could lightning strike my home right now and fry me as I type?  It is also possible.

Most dangers can be quantified.  This one is a little more difficult.  I think that is the biggest problem.  When we (the collective message board) get most of our information from parent of affected kids, it is hard to look at the information as unbiased.  Most of you have a personal interest in this.  Great.  Please back up your claims with documented stories and/or studies.

P.S. Don't read this in a condescending tone please.  Not trying to come across that way.

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis.  Try it.

Unfortunately it happens more often than lightning striking your house. Kids die every year in school due to life-threatening allergies. I dont remember the statistic right off hand, but its scary. Alot of those deaths are from second hand contamination.I know its hard sometimes to take the information that is given to you when people are biased, but when you take the time to learn about them, you find the facts. Like I said before. I am not dealing with food allergies at all. I went looking for information and I found statistics, and found stories that made it all real for me.

What is all boils down to is that parents who are not affected by this allergy assume (I did too) that the parents who have allergic kids want us to be just as diligent as they are, thats not the case at all. They dont care if our kids have may contains, they just want us to use common sense. Peanut M&M's no, reg m&m, as long as none is given to their child, ok.

Quoting someone from the last page, food allergies kill 130 people per year in the United States. That is counting all foods, not just peanuts. Lightning, however, only has a 30 year average of killing 67 people per year in the US. In conclusion, you're twice as likely to die from a food allergy as you are to get hit by a stray lightning bolt. Point taken.Sarcasm aside, I do understand that there is a danger to some kids. I'm just not certain that some that isn't some overreaction going on as well.

 

[e-mom]

This is an awesome peanut Jihad.

I was wondering if there is an explanation to what seems to be an explosion of food allergies. We didn't have lactose intolerant, nut sensative kids when I was in school (or no one said anything about it), why does this seem to be such a pervasive problem now?

Actually, we did have them but you never heard about them because most people either didn't say anything or didn't know what exactly was going on. But yes, I would agree that they have become more of a problem than ever before. Problem is that no one knows why.

I defy anyone to find a kid with gd peanut allergy between, oh the BEGINNING OF TIME and 1995. Didn't exist - and if it were so dadblamed dangerous it would have been killing kids right and left. Its only been the last 10 years that we've even seen signs about "Peanuts served here" well no ####, they are served everywhere and never hurt a soul when ANY of us were growing up.According to Auntie Mojo, its the poisons, toxins, preservatives, man-made crap that the food and drug companies serve up to us on a daily basis. We run more, exercise more, have 10X better medical circumstances than even one generation prior, yet we are fatter, and sicker than ever.

Beginning of time?? Actually, the kid wouldn't be a kid anymore. You'd be looking for a grown up now The reason why you have been seeing those signs or similar during the past 10 years is because the allergy has become more and more common.

 

[Nutcracker]

I am the mother of 3 wonderful kids.  The oldest of the three is in first grade this year.  Thankfully none of them have food allergies.  My first grader is a very picky eater; I can’t get her to eat any meat at all, with the exception of chicken nuggets and salami.  Something she does love though is peanut butter and jelly.  In facts its one of the only things I can get her to eat in sandwich form.

About 2 weeks before school started for her last year I received a letter stating that peanuts and peanut products would not be allowed at the school due to a child who had a severe peanut allergy.  Was I annoyed?  Oh, you bet I was.  I even decided to fight the ban.  I called newspapers, wrote letters to the editor, called television stations and rallied other parents together who felt the same way I did and asked them to attend the school board meeting and “make our voices heard”.

Then I went online to find ammunition.  I wanted to read everything I could to be prepared at that meeting.  What I wasn’t prepared for though was getting an education along the way.

You started reading this thinking that I was going to be another ticked off mom that opposed a peanut ban.  Surprise…  I whole heartedly support a ban in elementary schools.

You see, I found a site for people with life threatening allergies and I wanted to hear what they had to say so I posed my question.  “Do you really think a ban is necessary?”  I didn’t really care what they had to say, I was skimming through the posts looking for people who supported my argument, and surprisingly some did.  But then I really looked at what everybody had to say, and they all had one thing in common.  They just wanted their kids to be safe and they wanted them to be able to be kids, if only for a little while.

You see, the word allergy is misleading.  I know when I hear the word allergy my first thought was sneezing, itchy watery eyes, maybe a few hives.  You take a benadryl and there you go.  Well peanut allergies are not that simple. 

Picture this, a child in the lunch room has a pb&j sandwich, that child does not wash their hands after lunch and goes out to recess where they proceed to play on the equipment.  That child climbs up the slide ladder and slides down.  Right behind him (her) is another child; only this one has a peanut allergy.  They climb the ladder and by the time they reach the top they already have hives and itching, they know they have come in contact with peanuts.  They slide down the slide and by the time they reach the bottom their airway is shut off and they cant breath, they cant run for help, they cant do anything but hope that somebody has noticed what is going on and reacts quick enough with a shot of epinephrine.  Luckily the teacher does notice and has the epi-pen on hand.

Great you are thinking right?  WRONG, even though the teacher has reacted quickly and did everything she was supposed to do, that child is now waiting for an ambulance.  You see, the epi-pen is not a “get out of allergy free” card.  It only slows down the reaction enough to allow time for emergency medical help to arrive.  The child is hanging on by a thread by the time they reach the hospital, but they make it and the doctors meet them at the door.  Well here’s the other kick in the pants, there is no guarantee that they can stop anaphylaxis, and there is no guarantee that he will respond to anything they do.  He could still die.  All because some parent couldn’t be inconvenienced enough to remove peanut butter from one of the 5 meals their child would eat at school.

That’s right, your child will eat 21 meals in the course of a week, only 5 of them are in school, eliminating peanut butter and peanut products from those 5 are not going to put your child in danger, but not eliminating them will put another child in danger.

I know all the arguments that are going through your head, and let me go through them one by one.

1.  What if a child is allergic to bee stings, do you ban recess?

Well, no you don't, but you don't put them in a room full of bees either.  In elementary school a majority of the kids bring pb&j, for whatever reason, whether it be economical, convenient, or just because its something you don't have to fight with them to eat.  Therefore the allergic child is put in a life or death situation daily.  Residue is left everywhere and unless it is properly cleaned up, it can remain there for days, putting that child at risk everywhere he goes in that school.

2. What happens when they go out in the real world?

In the real world they do just fine.  Their parents make sure to wipe things down that may be contaminated, but out in the real world they won’t be forced into a condensed area with the food that is most toxic to them.  They go to parks, and beaches.  They do practically everything our kids do.  In a class room you wouldn’t be able to pick out which ones are allergic and which ones aren’t.  They are normal everyday kids.

3. What about all the other food allergies?

Yes, there are other food allergies that are just as severe as peanut allergies.  Some of the most common are milk, wheat, seafood, soy, sesame, and egg.  However with these other allergies it is rare for them to cause an airborne reaction, or a severe contact reaction.  I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but not as often as it does with peanut allergies.

4.  With an allergy so severe you should home school.

I don't know about you, but I couldn’t home school.  I am not that patient.  Some states require that the parent that is home schooling to be a college grad.  There are single moms and dads who need to work so they can’t home school.  There are many reasons why home schooling isn’t for everyone.  Just because you have a child with a food allergy doesn’t make you automatically equipped to be their teacher.

5. What about before school?  What if my kid has peanut butter toast?

Truth is, you don't have to stop your child from having peanut butter at home.  You can, if you choose, be considerate enough to not to serve your child peanut butter before school, but if you do, the risk of causing a reaction in an allergic child is still smaller than a lunchroom full of the stuff.  The risk is smaller still if you make sure they wash their face and hands and brush their teeth after eating it.

6.  Where do you draw the line?

That is a very good question, because you are right, there are other food allergies.  So should the school ban milk and eggs and everything else that can cause anaphylactic shock?  If there are kids in the school that are allergic to them, well the answer is yes.  You see the school has to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.  Translated that means that public schools have a LEGAL obligation to provide a safe learning environment for ALL students, not just the majority. The answer to the above question is that the line is drawn when the unique needs of the community served by that school have been met.

Look, it’s not easy to put your child in the hands of strangers when you know that some of them may have just eaten or are bringing to lunch the thing that is poison to your child, and they would home school if they could, but just like you and I, sometimes that is not an option.

Contrary to what some of you believe; these parents are not trying to take anything away from our kids.  They just want their kids to be safe and maybe a little carefree for a short time in their lives.  Let’s face it.  Asking kids this age to be responsible for life and death on a daily basis is just crazy, they are after all kids, and they don't always think before they act. 

These parents know that the school will never be completely free from these products, they are not stupid; and they don't expect us to shop for our children like they are the ones with this deadly allergy; but one less sandwich, one less snack containing these foods being brought to school is one less risk to their child’s life.

All parents dealing with peanut allergies have different comfort zones.  Most of them do not allow their children to eat anything other than what they (the parents) provide.  When shopping for your child however, the only things that most (some) pa parents want is actual peanuts (tree nuts) and products containing peanuts to be omitted from the schools.  Products that may contain or are packaged in a facility that processes peanuts are of minimal risk to their children.  Their child would actually have to ingest them to have a reaction.  Now there are exceptions to this rule, for instance, Granola bars are may contain (most do contain) and tend to be very sticky, if it is indeed peanut containing and the sticky residue isn’t cleaned properly, it can cause a reaction in the allergic child.  I do repeat, parents have different comfort zones, some are stricter than others.

Thinking back to last year, I put my daughter on the bus for the first time in her life and I was afraid that she wouldn’t know where to go once she got to school, and I was afraid that she would forget to raise her hand before she spoke.  I was really afraid that she would get on the wrong bus coming home; of course through the year I didn’t worry about these things anymore.  But the parents of children with life-threatening allergies are scared every day that this will be the day they get the dreaded call that their child is en route to the hospital because of a common everyday peanut product.  They have to worry whether or not their child will ever come home again.  I don't know about you, but I thank God that I don't have to send my daughter off to school everyday in fear that I will never see her alive again.  These parents would love to worry about the little things.

When I looked back at my initial reaction of being opposed to the ban, I am ashamed.  When I was honest with myself, I mean completely honest, I was mad because I was going to be inconvenienced.  I was willing to put a little boy’s life in danger so my daughter could eat a sandwich she liked.  What does that say about me?

I was mad because I felt like my daughter was being deprived of something she wanted, funny thing is, when I told my daughter what was going on, she was absolutely fine with not being able to take pb&j for lunch, in fact, she said she didn’t want to take it if it could hurt an other child.

Maybe we should all take a lesson from our kids.

Good post, but I hate the alarmist tone. I have no doubt that it is real, but most would here (maybe all) don't know of a child that has been killed in a peanut related accident from second-hand peanut debris on a playground. Could it happen? Probably. Could lightning strike my home right now and fry me as I type? It is also possible.Most dangers can be quantified. This one is a little more difficult. I think that is the biggest problem. When we (the collective message board) get most of our information from parent of affected kids, it is hard to look at the information as unbiased. Most of you have a personal interest in this. Great. Please back up your claims with documented stories and/or studies.

P.S. Don't read this in a condescending tone please. Not trying to come across that way.

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis. Try it.

For starters,some deaths from food allergies (connected to participation in school):

Nathan Walters. (peanut)

Sabrina Shannon. (milk)

Hamidur Rahman . (peanut)

P.S. Don't read this in a condescending tone please. Not trying to come across that way, but could you do an internet search for yourself?

 

[Educator]

Quoting someone from the last page, food allergies kill 130 people per year in the United States. That is counting all foods, not just peanuts. Lightning only has a 30 year average of killing 67 people per year in the US. In conclusion, you're twice as likely to die from a food allergy as you are to get hit by a stray lightning bolt. Point taken.

Sarcasm aside, I do understand that there is a danger to some kids. I'm just not certain that some that isn't some overreaction going on as well.

I hope you didnt take my tone as being sarchastic, it was not intended that way. I agree with you, I am sure that some parents do overreact, however, I have to say being a parent myself, I can understand that. I mean, I couldnt bare it if my child were to die because I didnt want to inconvenience anybody. I would rather over react and have my child alive, than under react and have a have dead one.

 

[e-mom]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

I went to that peanut allergy board mentioned on the last page and posted a link, so maybe some of those mothers will show up and share their perspective.

Curious but what if a parent says that commercial cleaners could potentiall kill or severely harm their child? Does that mean you must use alternative methods when cleaning your kids clothes so it won't potentiall harm theirs? Where does it end? Look, if your kid loves anything that has peanuts in it, then I see no problem with denying your child just because some most likely "nut" parent doesn't want little Johnny to get ill. Seriously, if my child had a problem with this and my doctor told me she could die with coming into contact with a peanut then I would home school her or find another way.

Where does it end? Well, at death actually. If it can kill our kid, then are we asking too much by asking your kid to refrain from a PB&J at 5 meals a week (out of 21)?

No, it doesnt end in death, in fact read above and you will see that parents whose children who have this don't really know. What they know is that their child had a reaction then the doctor sends them to an allergist then said allergist says don't take a chance on your child having peanuts. Then you have people who say it's airborn while others say no it can't while most say they really don't know.

Just wanted to point out that it is different for every person. In my situation, yes I do not know if the next reaction for my son will cause an anaphylactic reaction. I cannot predict the future.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

We had our son in one school 1st-4th grades in which there was a child who had a peanut allergy, and I'll tell you--it is a real nightmare to work around the most basic, nutritious and inexpensive of meals and snacks when you have to provide your kid's own lunches every day. Unbelievable. My son would come home craving PBJ's for supper sometimes just for missing them.  :(

almond butter.

Now we're talkin. Load up a piece of bread with gobs of this stuff. Then when the little munchkin gets out of line, hit him upside the head with it and yell "Peanut Butter!" and watch him go into shock.

 

[Nutcracker]

We had our son in one school 1st-4th grades in which there was a child who had a peanut allergy, and I'll tell you--it is a real nightmare to work around the most basic, nutritious and inexpensive of meals and snacks when you have to provide your kid's own lunches every day. Unbelievable. My son would come home craving PBJ's for supper sometimes just for missing them.  :(

almond butter.

Now we're talkin. Load up a piece of bread with gobs of this stuff. Then when the little munchkin gets out of line, hit him upside the head with it and yell "Peanut Butter!" and watch him go into shock.

QUICK! WHERE'S THE "SWEETIE POLICE"???

 

[falguy]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.

Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

I'm sure the peanut deaths were reported as death by anaphylaxis, cause unknown.I'm certainly not an expert, but just from going through the research papers, it's an actual documented condition. They've tracked down the allergens in peanut extract and tested them on subjects using double-blind placebo-controlled trials, so as far as western medicine can determine, peanut allergy is the real deal, and it can kill.

I can certainly understand arguing what are appropriate measures for parents and communities to take, but leading off with "well, it's all just in your over-protective head" seems a bit harsh.

Same thing with Bees so I guess a parent can tell other parents to have the schools trees torn down plus their neighbors need to also tear down their trees and flowers and yard so the kid won't potentially get stung by a bee and die.Sorry, just don't buy it.

People with your opinion are the reason some of these parents get as irate as they do. You're the opposite end of the spectrum, the end that doesn't think you should do anything at all. Just like there are parents who think everyone should do everything for them to make sure their kids don't come in contact with the allergen.The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

They're rights don't supercede mine, nor mine theirs. A happy medium must be found. Sticking your head in the sand and saying you don't believe it, or yelling from rooftops that everything peanut should be banned is not the way to do things.

I agree!! Compromise!! Keep the PB&J's and the obvious peanut products at home (PB crackers, PB cookies, peanut M&M's). If you want to send a "may contain" product (regular M&M, Cheese Ritz Bitz, twix bar) no big deal. I have to read labels, I don't stress over others reading labels. You can understand a peanut M&M has peanuts in it without reading a label. The only time I would hope you would read a label is if you are sending a snack for the ENTIRE class. That way, you can be sure that EVERYONE can enjoy that snack.

Nice meeting you, Foosball God

I agree with this. I think the compromise ends with none of these "obvious" foods coming into the schools. I know this hits close to home to a lot of people but you can't protect people from everything. It can't be done. Asking parents to read labels on every product there child brings into school is, IMO, unreasonable.There's lots of allergies, not just to peanuts. I have a friend who's allergic to peanuts, bees and fish and I know to be careful when around him.

Just had to chime in

 

[FatMax]

Quoting someone from the last page, food allergies kill 130 people per year in the United States.  That is counting all foods, not just peanuts.  Lightning only has a 30 year average of killing 67 people per year in the US.  In conclusion, you're twice as likely to die from a food allergy as you are to get hit by a stray lightning bolt.  Point taken.

Sarcasm aside, I do understand that there is a danger to some kids.  I'm just not certain that some that isn't some overreaction going on as well.

I hope you didnt take my tone as being sarchastic, it was not intended that way. I agree with you, I am sure that some parents do overreact, however, I have to say being a parent myself, I can understand that. I mean, I couldnt bare it if my child were to die because I didnt want to inconvenience anybody. I would rather over react and have my child alive, than under react and have a have dead one.

You're fine, I was the one being sarcastic with the comparison to lightning. As for the rest of your post, I agree. I just hate the overblown examples that paint a picture of kids dropping like flies in the school cafeteria. It is alarmist and unnecessary. Reason, like your last post, works better.

 

[Educator]

Now we're talkin. Load up a piece of bread with gobs of this stuff. Then when the little munchkin gets out of line, hit him upside the head with it and yell "Peanut Butter!" and watch him go into shock.

Nothing shocks me anymore, now I just realize how ignorant some people are.

 

[Nutcracker]

I had a lady come up to me in a public place, a freakin' arcade full of kids, when she noticed that my son had a bag of peanut M&Ms. She said "make sure your boy stays away from my boy, he's allergic to peanuts." I said "keep your kid away from my kid, my boy is not allergic." 

I wish parents would unite and simply tell their school that kids with extreme peanut allergies should be stay at home school children

From this thread it sounds like the condition is so common that we could start concentrating these kids in peanut-free schools.

I hear you and I had TERRIBLE allegies to dust and pollen when I was little, I guess my mom and dad should have made my school tear down all the trees and make sure that their wasn't a speck of dust in the entire school.

hey, have you ever looked at the EPA site regarding: "Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings" hmmmmmmmmmm. doesn't sound voluntary once discovered, but who knows?

 

[mojorizin]

Now we're talkin. Load up a piece of bread with gobs of this stuff. Then when the little munchkin gets out of line, hit him upside the head with it and yell "Peanut Butter!" and watch him go into shock.

Nothing shocks me anymore, now I just realize how ignorant some people are.

Lighten up, Francis

 

[FatMax]

Don't read this in a condescending tone please. Not trying to come across that way, but could you do an internet search for yourself?

Despite your insistence on being combative, I really am learning something here. I figured that those in the know would have (or know where to get) information that is better than I can find sifting through Google.Sorry.

 

[e-mom]

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis. Try it.

This has got to be one of the funniest comments I ever heard

 

[mojorizin]

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis.  Try it.

This has got to be one of the funniest comments I ever heard

Hang around here for a while, sister - we got bucketfuls of the stuff.

 

[e-mom]

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis.  Try it.

This has got to be one of the funniest comments I ever heard

Hang around here for a while, sister - we got bucketfuls of the stuff.

When does the game begin?

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis.  Try it.

This has got to be one of the funniest comments I ever heard

Hang around here for a while, sister - we got bucketfuls of the stuff.

When does the game begin?

That popcorn looks questionable.

 

[glumpy]

Well this thread has sure exploded!

I skimmed it again and have a couple thoughts. Just to clarify--my own instance where we had to make accomodations for two children who were allergic to peanuts was one which was severe--ALL labels had to be checked and NOTHING could come into the building (common HVAC supply). Those who know me know that I am among the most accomodating people there is--but to demand that extreme an allowance was damn near intolerable.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

I'd love to hear the numbers. If it's that many than it's time to find an equitable solution for the majority who do not have those issues--rather than having them make all the concessions for the minority who do. I would suggest that there are charter schools set up to provide special curricula, to provide advance studies or remedial, to accomodate those with disabilities such as ADD, essentially to account for whatever the needs are of children and/or parents who are disenfranchised from the "normal" public school system. What you describe here is a number of 'allergy-disabled' children to warrant such an approach. Public schools are established to provide a level of education for the populace which will bring them to an acceptable minimal level of education. They are not equipped to provide for all special needs groups and should not be required to be so equipped.

The reality of life is that you and they must compromise. If the safety of someone else's kid requires that I don't send a PB&J sandwich with my kids to school I can live with that minor inconvience. If, however, they expect me to read through every label of every product my child uses or eats, or expect me to deny my child those things in our own home then they have gone to far.

This reflects my feelings pretty well.

 

[e-mom]

PPS - ClearCream, whatever, you can make your point without looking like a penis.  Try it.

This has got to be one of the funniest comments I ever heard

Hang around here for a while, sister - we got bucketfuls of the stuff.

When does the game begin?

That popcorn looks questionable.

Thank you for your concern

 

[Polish Hammer]

My sister has a progressive seafood allergy. Last weekend she came over for dinner. We were having grilled chicken over salad as part of the meal. She thought the marinade smelled good and asked what was in it. When I mentioned "Caesar" dressing, she got concerned and we read the label. Yup, anchovies. So you know what she did? Had the salad without chicken. The rest of us ate and no harm was done. That is compromise and that is how it is done. Also, she is a librarian at a school...should she insist that the ENTIRE school no longer be allowed to have any sort of seafood in it? Fish sticks? Tuna salad? No. She keeps her Benadryl and epi-pen with her and has never had an issue. Just wanted to share that. By the way, I judge e-mom and the one with Bridget in her name here to be fairly reasonable and fun folk. Nutcracker needs to lighten up.

 

[Lizardboy]

Now we're talkin. Load up a piece of bread with gobs of this stuff. Then when the little munchkin gets out of line, hit him upside the head with it and yell "Peanut Butter!" and watch him go into shock.

Nothing shocks me anymore, now I just realize how ignorant some people are.

I have a kid with peanut allergies and I have to agree.These guys obviously have maturity problems, tolerance problems, common sense problems, you name it. So it's not worth getting upset over anything they have said or anything they might say in response to this.

I will say that if my kid died because some ####### thought he was a "peanut bubble baby" and their kid could be bothered to make the slightest accommodation to keep my kid out of danger, I would hunt that mother ####er down and kill him.

Just thought you guys would like to know.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Appreciate mom Bridget amd e-mom making the field trip. I read every comment.I don't think reasonable parents object to not serving PB&J's in school lunches or snacks. I don't think most have a problem with being extremely careful when as room parents they have to bring a common snack. God knows I want to know not to hurt a child and would gladly make that accomodation. The problem comes when asked to examine the minutia of our lives for the benefit of your child. I, for instance, care for a sibling incapacitated by MS and diabetes, a MIL living in my home who has fibromyalgia and pancreatitis which has rendered her unable to support herself, and my wifes grandmother who at 95 has more wrong with her than right. I'm busy. If you want extraordinary cooperation from me you need to make it extraordinarily easy for me to do so as my attention is on my life. Survey my home for me, or send a list of products, including photos of product labels, so I know what to avoid. Maybe even include alternate products for me to consider. Don't place the burden on me. Help me since this is your issue. In short, I'm a parent. I care for my kid and can empathize with your sentiments for yours. But I am also overwhelmed. Trying to tell me to cooperate to an extraordinary level will not make it with me. Asking for my help, and making it easy on me to give extraordinary cooperation in the name of potentially saving a child, well that's another thing.Anyhow, I appreciate the dialoge and will log in at your site tomorrow to say thanks. (I don't have the password at home)BTW just knew a ladies man like Foos would make a friend. That's one smooth PaPa.