Is compassion a thing of the past?

Dear all of us,
Is compassion a thing of the past? What in the world are we teaching our children if we are not teaching them to be compassionate towards others?
As you may have guessed my youngest has life threatening food allergies. We found this out the hard way when she was 3. It was the scariest moment of my life. I am not looking for sympathy. I am not looking for pity. I am not looking for attention. Nothing that I did caused the allergy. Yes, I know that it could be worse. I know all of that. A little compassion towards her would be nice. A little compassion towards all children with food allergies, diabetes, and so on at Halloween time would be appreciated. Imagine if it was your child that had to watch most of their Halloween candy go into the trash. Imagine for a moment what that feels like.
The teal pumpkin project has taken off! It's very exciting to see those that are not in the food allergy community embrace the project. Google it and you will find many news articles, interviews, and the like. It's so great!
What's not great are the comments underneath the articles.  I do not understand when I read the horrible, hurtful comments. I do not understand what makes a person type those words. The words that say that parents caused the allergy, parents like the attention, that it's all about Darwin and survival of the fittest.
I would do anything to make the allergy go away. She doesn't sneeze when she eats nuts, she stops breathing. I wouldn't wish our life on anyone. I do however wish that some people could spend just one day in our shoes.
You can still pass out whatever candy you would like. If you are so inclined, you can put out a bowl of non food treats too. Bracelets, stickers, crayons, glow sticks and so on are great non food items. You do not have to spend a lot at all.
Here's more information-feel free to share and spread the word and the compassion. Thank you to those that are participating, it means the world to us!
http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project

Dear all of us, scrambled thoughts

Dear all of us,
Do you ever have times when you have so much going on in your head that you can't even focus? Please tell me it's not just me!
There's too much going on. School has been in session for almost two months and I still can't get with it. The quantity of homework and common core is driving me insane. The math homework! Oh the math homework! I have to believe that whomever invented common core does not have children. It is pure torture.
I look at the calendar and laugh. There is so much on the calendar that I have to schedule in when we can go get some pumpkins.....
Halloween-never been my favorite holiday and even less with food allergies. But look at this!
http://blog.foodallergy.org/2014/10/06/the-teal-pumpkin-project-for-an-allergy-friendly-halloween/

Remember to paint your pumpkin teal! I will post pics as soon as ours is done.


There is so much out there that is making my head go crazy. I can't turn on the news anymore. Ebola, the respiratory virus that's going on (we don't have asthma but it still makes me nervous), beheadings, ISIS, and on and on.....

I wish the news would show more of what is good in the world. I have to believe that the good outweighs the bad. It's just that, of late, all I hear is bad. It hurts my heart when I hear of those doing the wrong thing. Especially those who are involved in the lives of children.

I wish people would take a minute everyday to be thankful for what they have. If you have a good life, if you are surrounded in love, if you and your family have your health, please don't take that for granted. Enjoy it. So many, many people have lost so much. Be grateful for what you have and spread love and joy. Have some perspective. Don't spread hate. Don't hurt others. Play nice! Isn't that what we teach our children? Adults need to listen to this advice.

Halloween, a party, and a walk

Here's the wrap up for this week, it's been a busy one.

Halloween-It went well. The kids had tons of fun going trick or treating with a few friends. I had two epi pens with us, safe candy, and charged cell phone. After they went to bed I went through the candy. There must have been a sale on Snickers because we had a ton of those. Anyway, I separate it into two piles. Safe and not safe. It's another year where the safe pile was bigger! We were actually able to keep a lot. I think that better labeling and more awareness is key to this success. Something amazing happened at one of the houses that we stopped at. The woman that answered the door asked if any of the kids had allergies! We do not know the people that live at this house. My little one said yes and the woman helped her to find something safe! Incredible!

The party-The day after Halloween my little one had a party at school. I knew about it and plans were put in place in advance. I was at home as it was the day before the walk. As the kids get older parents are not invited in as much. We can attend the parties but if we are going to be the only parents there then I don't want to attend. I want her to have as normal an experience as possible. Anyway, the phone rang and there was the school on the phone. I don't know why I thought that we would actually make it through a whole year without a phone call from the school. It was the teacher. She was asking me if the donut holes where safe and she started reading me the ingredients. I nearly fainted. I reminded her that she can't eat anything unless we approve it prior. I reminded her that she was going to defrost a cupcake. She admitted that she forgot. Luckily I also stock her cabinet with safe cookies and chips. Yes, I am thrilled that she called to go over ingredients. I'm not thrilled that she forgot to defrost a cupcake. Just when I thought it was getting easier.....

The walk-It was yesterday and I'm just starting to recover. I was truly exhausted last night. It was the most amazing day! The weather was incredible. Sunny and cool. The day before it rained like crazy so I was truly stressed about the mud factor but it wasn't too bad at all. We had amazing entertainment, great speakers, great attendance, it was perfect. We are very close to our fundraising goal, I think we might make it by the end of the year. It's always a great day, I love spending time with those that get it. I was humbled and reduced to tears by many kind words. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

Welcome to crazy land

In addition to all of the usual crazy around here it's Halloween week. In addition to the Halloween crazy it's walk week also. I am the walk chair for the local food allergy walk which will take place on Saturday. This makes for a busy time.....
All is good here, not much to report actually. She does have a class party on Friday. Yes, they are serving stuff that she can't have. This is why I stock the freezer and cabinets with safe food. Food will be out of the classroom one day, right?
How are things with all of you? Ready for Halloween?

Halloween candy

Do you have a hard time finding Halloween candy that is safe for your family? We are allergic to tree nuts so candy can be tricky. I try and pick candy to handout that is safe for us and hopefully safe for a good part of the allergic community. I bought dum dums today. The bag has, in huge letters on it, "free of most major allergens". How great! I also got Sixlets. They are kind of like M&M's. They are made in a nut free facility. They were also on sale today, which was very exciting. What are you passing out this year.
*I am not paid by any candy company. I'm just sharing what we do here.
*Please, always ready every label, every time.

Halloween and food allergies

I love fall, it's my favorite season. Fall also brings Halloween. Halloween, if I am going to be honest, is not my favorite holiday. I'm not the "dress in costume" kinda girl. Never have been, I don't know why. Anyway, since food allergies hit our family, Halloween has taken a whole new turn. My kids, of course, love Halloween. They love getting dressed up. They also love the candy. Well, the candy that they can keep. Tree nuts keep some candy out of our house. After the kids go to bed I sort all of the candy out. Anything with tree nuts is gone, so are the "may contain" and the "made in a facility". Anything without a label that I think is safe stays. It goes into the pumpkin in our pantry that says not safe. This pumpkin is for my older daughter and off limits to the younger one. Anything that is safe goes into the safe pumpkin. We have been doing this for four years and it has always worked fine. I remember when we first had to celebrate Halloween in this manner. Lots of candy was sent out of our house. Over the years I have noticed that we can keep more and more of it. Many houses are passing out candy that is safe for us. Many companies are making candy that is made in a nut free facility. It certainly makes our life easier. I used to order very expensive safe candy online. I'm not doing it this year, last year I did and I didn't need to. 

How do you handle Halloween in your house? Do you hate Halloween as much as I do?