Thursday, February 16, 2012

Your Peanut-Allergic Kid is the Strongest kid I know

I ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly lunches as a child, and I loved them!  Peanut butter is great on toast and can even make celery taste good.  I do have happy memories of eating peanut butter flavored snacks and PB&J sandwiches.  I also have happy memories of eating pizza, pudding cups, and the occasional grilled cheese for lunch.  So what? 

If the absence of peanut butter during lunch creates a great deal of suffering, then our society is creating some seriously altered views of entitlement.  Who is the weak one?  The person that can't live without a sugary spread on their bread, or the person that can?

Peanut products are everywhere and cross-contamination can be found in many items that don't even have peanuts in the ingredients.  For the peanut allergic kid, this makes food choices a minefield each time they eat outside of the home.  These kids need to a be smart, vigilant, and bold each time they eat!  How many of us can accurately say that we were able to stand up in front of our peers, as adolescents, and call ourselves out as different?

Food allergic kids are forced to accept their food allergy fate and wear it on their sleeve.  They get bullied for it.  Their parents get bullied for it.  They are forced to act mature and confident before they even hit puberty!

So, I say that "Your Peanut-Allergic Kid is the STRONGEST Kid I know."

1 comment:

  1. Fantastic! My three year old is incredibly brave, open, and confident already. People often ask me how he already seems so mature and grown up. I think that has everything to do with his food allergies. He has been through numerous doctors, testing, and treatment. He has had to endure more than many kids, which has made him both strong and empathetic. We have been incredibly lucky though in our life's path. Although I have read so many negative, nasty things said online about food allergic kids, we have only had positive people in our life thus far. Our friends are very supportive and helpful. Other parents are curious and ask questions, but I have never had a single negative comment said to me about our situation or about his "inconvenient" allergies.

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