Oh those teen years will be here before I know it. My oldest is 11 and is certainly already a tween. My youngest is 7 and I am sure she will be acting like a teen before I know it. Since we have been dealing with food allergies since she was 3 1/2 I always thought that as she got older it would get easier. For the most part it has become easier. She can advocate for herself and she can ask questions.

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I have eleven years until my little one goes off to college. Sadly, I know that it will go by in the blink of an eye. I can not even begin to imagine how hard it is to drop a child off at college. I remember when I went. My mom and I cried like babies. How in the world am I going to drop off my food allergic child? Any tips?

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For me, cooking is not a joy. It never has been. I have never found it to be fun, it is more of a chore. Throw food allergies in and I like it even less. I consider myself lucky though (that sounds strange). We only have to avoid tree nuts. Imagine the family that has to cook while avoiding multiple foods. Or think of the family that has multiple children with multiple different food allergies. It has to be a logistical nightmare. Cooking with food allergies leads to lots of cooking from scratch. It turns into quite the process.

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In the event that an allergic reaction occurs there is life saving medicine that can and should be used. It is epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. The epinephrine will reverse severe low blood pressure, wheezing, severe skin itching, hives, and other symptoms of an allergic reaction.

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When my daughter was diagnosed with life threatening food allergies I hit the computer after I picked myself up off of the floor. I am a researcher by nature so I looked up everything relating to food allergies.I especially read about everything about what I would face as she entered Kindergarten. One thing struck me, there would be tons of paperwork.

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I do not know the original writer of the following quote so I can not give proper credit but I wish I could because it is my favorite quote. ” Our children are not dogs, you do not have to reward them with food”.  That is pure genius in my book.
I do not understand why children in school have to be rewarded for every single thing that they do. I do however have to backtrack for a moment.

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Here is another look at food in our schools. We have moved from the cafeteria to the actual classroom. Again, I can only discuss this in regards to our experiences with tree nut allergies. Since our daughters tree nut allergy is so severe, the classroom door has a sign on it that states that the class is tree nut free.

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I will start off this post with a warning. I could literally write a book on the topic of food in schools. Throw in food allergies and I could write an encyclopedia. I will however, try to keep it as concise as I can. I am actually going to break it up into a series of posts.

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Chores. I can not stand them.  Laundry, cooking, cleaning, not fond of any of them. Grocery shopping is on that list too. I have never been a fan of it. Grocery shopping with a food allergy is even worse.

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Anaphylaxis is a rapidly progressing, life threatening allergic reaction. For someone that does not have a food allergic individual in their lives, food allergies may invoke images of sniffles and watery eyes. Unfortunately, reactions are usually a whole lot worse that the sniffles, they can be deadly.

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Leave the house? Without the children? Does this really happen? How often do you get out without your children? We get out here and there on the weekends because my parents live nearby. We are truly blessed to have them here, it saves our sanity. Getting out during the week is another story. Between school, work, homework, and after school activities there is not a whole lot of time left for date nights. Finding a babysitter when your child has food allergies is a very daunting task.

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It is vacation time! Nothing better than time away from the everyday routine. Somewhere tropical or the mountains? A long weekend or a full week? It is a lot to plan under the best of circumstances, add food allergies in and it is a whole different ball game.

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The invitation arrives in the mail or is sent home in the backpack. Oh yippee a birthday party invitation (sarcasm). More of that behind the scenes prep work coming up. I begin by taking a deep breath. I then call the parents of the birthday child. I introduce myself and then I explain why I am calling. “My child has food allergies. May I find out what type of food you are serving?” Of course we all know that there will be cake or cupcakes.

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Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy 4th of July! Holidays are supposed to be joyous occasions. However, holidays are not always easy when food allergies are involved. Lets pretend that your neighbors have decided to throw a block party for the 4th of July.  Sounds great, right?

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Going out to eat is one of the most common things to do isn’t it? Call some friends, gather the family, pick a restaurant, hop in the car and go. It is an easy, fun, and at times a memory making activity.

For us, and the rest of the millions that have food allergies, it is not easy at all. Many food allergic children have never even seen the inside of a restaurant.

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