Food allergies suck!

There is no delicate way to phrase it. One child’s favorite food can kill my son. People who haven’t experienced food allergies find it ridiculous, alarmist, and ridiculous. Really? Alarmist? Do we let kids bring guns to school? No! Why would we allow something we KNOW can kill someone into the school and seemingly endorse said thing?

I’ve been battling K’s school this year. They are not a peanut free school and they don’t have a stated policy regarding food brought into the school. I get not claiming to be peanut free, and honestly, even as a food allergy parent I’m not a fan of peanut free schools as I feel they create a false sense of security.

For their Thanksgiving feast they INSISTED on Chick-fil-a chicken minis. Gee, lets let 50 Kindergarteners cover their hands with a known allergen. The solution was to put K at the head of the seating arrangement with stuffed animals on either side of him as buffer from the other kids. I offered to pay for an alternative food but they wouldn’t do it. What is so special about Chick-fil-a that they have to have it?

That leads to today. My phone rang at 1:03pm. I was on the phone with M at the time. The clinic nurse quickly passed me to K’s Teachers Aide and I could hear the fear and panic in her voice. K had eaten popcorn at the student-teacher volleyball game and it had been popped in peanut oil. Is this the 1950’s? Seriously? What the heck is the school thinking serving 600+ people something made with one of the deadliest allergens?

Oh, that is right, research shows that a very low percentage of people react to nut oils. Gee, thanks for the statistics, but my kid is one of the few that is the exception.

The response from the school:

I am very sorry for what occurred this afternoon. The popcorn was not brought from an outside source, rather it was made in our school concession stand. Certainly, we should have known that the popcorn was made in peanut oil, however we had parent volunteers making the popcorn.

In our correspondence concerning Catholic Schools Week sent out through the Friday Folder, January 22, we stated that the children would be served popcorn on Thursday-School Spirit Day.

We are thankful that K had no adverse reaction to the popcorn. As soon as Mrs. M learned that the popcorn had been popped using peanut oil, she responded quickly and appropriately. And we are grateful to you for bringing him an alternative snack.

Thank you for expressing your concern. We will continue to strive to do our best in safeguarding children with allergies.

Yeah, thanks. No adverse reaction? It took two doses of Benadryl to clear his face. Layer on top of that the fact that he was afraid to eat dinner tonight because it might not be safe. He has apologized at least 10 times that I’ve heard today for eating something with nuts. It has brought tears to my eyes so many times. He thinks it is his fault. He thinks it is his fault rather than the idiotic school policies.

Stupid freaking school. Why is it so hard to not have snacks at school functions? Why must every celebration be accompanied by food? Why can we so willingly and KNOWINGLY put kids at risk but then freak out about much smaller things?

I don’t get it. I don’t think I ever will. I do feel confident that God blessed me with K for a reason. Someone who 'gets it', embraces it and will advocate for him.