Spiderman doesn't care about food allergies

Yesterday Big Guy turned 5! I can hardly believe it. He had a good day. Below are some of the photos from the day ....

Started off with chocolate chip pancakes -- made with Ener-G replacer, soy milk and Ghiradelli chips

They were yummy!!!!

He went to "school" today and brought Fear Factor push-ups. No dairy!! After school, he came home and found this in the backyard ...

An inflatable water slide!!

They definitely liked it! And had a great time. It will get lots more use at the family party we are having for both boys in a week or so.

For dinner, we got pizza. Since Big Guy can tolerate dairy, he can eat it, but Little Guy cannot. SO, I made Little Guy a pizza with a tortilla, tomato sauce, piece of cut up salami and Tofutti cheese. He liked it and didn't feel left out. Also, when I ordered the pizza I asked for PLAIN breadsticks -- no butter, no cheese -- for Little Guy. He LOVED those too.

The overall theme for his birthday definitely centered on Spiderman, which he loves. (Which is amazing since he has NEVER seen the show or movie. It really speaks to the power of marketing!)

The cupcakes were homemade with the Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cake mix and Pillsbury Whipped Supreme frosting. They were YUMMY. And on the top were Spiderman cupcake toppers.




He had a great day and so did we. These are the really fun birthdays ... they get it, they show unbridled joy and excitement .... and Spiderman doesn't care if he has food allergies!!

Eating Out

Up until our recent vacation, I was pretty easy going about eating out. I would look at the menu and find something that looked safe for the boys, such as a hamburger, and would ask them to make sure that they didn't put ANYTHING on the bun ... no butter, etc. I didn't necessarily get into all the details of all the foods they were allergic to.

But while on vacation, we stopped for lunch in Sausalito and looked at the kid's menu, which consisted of:

• Fish and Chips (nope, probable egg or cheese in the batter)
• Chicken fingers (nope, same reason as above)
• Pizza (umm, obvious NO)
• Spaghetti and marinara (okay, finally something they can eat)

We ordered the spaghetti for both of them. And MY FAULT, I didn't quiz the waiter about what they put in it. In my mind, you would only put noodles and tomato sauce in this dish. Plus at the same time, my husband is complaining that the beautiful outdoor seating overlooking the bay was too hot ... and then Big Guy was squinting and complaining, so I had to ask to be moved inside. Needless to say, I was occupied with lots of things at the time.

Okay, here comes the food. Little Guy takes one tiny bite, about 2 inches of noodles and sauce and within 3 minutes starts telling me his tongue hurts. SHIT!!!!! I quickly down my glass of wine and fish tacos. I don't give him anymore to eat and we wait. I ask the waiter if they put cheese in the kid's spaghetti, he insists that they don't ... just noodles, tomatoes and herbs.

A couple minutes later, Little Guy tells me he has to throw up. I scoop him up with the napkin and race off through the crowded restaurant to the Ladies room. We stand in front of the toilet ... nothing. "Do you need to throw up? Because this is the place to do it. I'll give you some medicine when we get back to our table." He tells me he wants the medicine and isn't going to be sick. Okay, I hope so.

Back to the table. On the way back, the nice hostess asks if everything is all right. I tell her he has a food allergy and I think the marinara might have made him sick. Another waiter is standing and also insists there is no cheese in that dish.

Little Guy sits nicely at the table and takes the benadryl. My husband says he'll take him out of the restaurant, just in case. I wait and wait and wait with Big Guy for the waiter and the bill. FINALLY, I get it and we leave.

Outside, there stands my husband in a wettish shirt, "he threw up on the way out of the restaurant. All over me and him, the wall and a lady walking in." Oh no! But it is, in a perverse way, funny too. I have the mental image of my husband holding his fingers over Little Guy's mouth (as he described later to me) and the puke spewing out. Luckily (1) my husband has a similar sense of humor to mine, (2) I know the boys' allergies aren't so severe that there could be breathing issues.

Then we look at Little Guy's legs and see some hives too. He definitely had an allergic reaction to the noodles. We give him some more benadryl and drive away.

To defend the restaurant, I didn't explain what Little Guy's allergies are (but I am not totally thrilled with the waiters' snooty attitude). I realized I need to be the person who starts out the conversation "my son has a lot of food allergies ... can you help me find something he can eat?"

We did that that same night at a restaurant in San Francisco and they were VERY helpful. There was nothing on their kids' menu that Little Guy could eat, so they grilled a piece of chicken for him and gave him some french fries and steamed veggies.

I guess I haven't been that particular and stringent about it in the past because I've been lucky and his reactions aren't life threatening, but I hate to see poor Little Guy feel bad, so I need to be better about it. And reading posts like this help me to know that I'm not alone out there.

Summer time and the living is ....

not really easy, is it? It is BUSY! Which I know is no excuse for not blogging. Look at No Whey Mama, she is busy and PREGNANT! Congrats!!! Not unlike me, her sister is getting married too and she threw her a shower.

Rats! That was one of my excuses for not blogging. Here they are: throwing my sis a wedding shower, super busy at work, went on vacation, had my hubby's b-day, had my b-day, trying to work out more, getting ready for Big Guy and Little Guy's b-day in July and August; joined a book club and had to read the book, created a new photo album with this etc etc. :-)

Before I show off the fun vacation photos ... I just want to say hello and thanks for your comments to some new friends ... Janine at Mom's Food Allergy Diner, AllergicMom at My Kid's Allergies, Jen Barney at A Teacher's Life, Angel at Slayer in Training, and Ash. It is really great to hear from other mom's out there. Thanks for the comments and hanging with me while I lag behind in my blogging. I give all of you a lot of credit for keeping up with your blogs!

Well, here are some fun vacation photos. We went to northern California for a family reunion (of sorts). Before all of those festivities started we went to a place called Safari West, it was AWESOME! The kids loved it.

On the airplane heading out west ... we brought Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwiches on the plane

This is where we stayed ... a REAL African tent! But it is super nice inside with a bathroom. shower, etc.

The boys LOVED the bunk beds in the tent (notice the wine glass on the bed side table, we where in wine country, for goodness sakes!).

Big Guy and Daddy get ready for the safari. We took these jeeps all around the property and got to see tons of animals.

And the coolest part was when they got to FEED the giraffe!! Which, later we found out they weren't supposed to, but ... oh well!

I have a million more pictures, but that gives you a sense of the fun we had.

Don't try this at home

Don't these brownies look delicious???? NOT!!!!!!
I wanted to make brownies that everyone could eat. So, I thought I was oh-so-clever and would use regular brownie mix and just use the Ener-G egg replacer so the boys could eat them. And I was so SURE this would work, I made a double recipe so I could be sure to have enough for everyone.

Boy, was I wrong! Don't try this at home! The batter never really turned brownie/cake-like. It just sorta kept bubbling, like a weird science experiment. So, I ended up bringing Costco brownie bites to the party and gave the kids popsicles. But being so frugal, I did try the science-experiment brownies and they actually weren't bad. They were more fudge-like than brownies. Big Guy and I ate them up over the course of a week or so. I would even break them up and put them on his soy ice cream.

But, next time I want to make brownies from a mix (that the boys can eat), I will make the trek to Whole Foods and get the Cherrybrook Kitchen brownie mix. I know these are good and won't bubble mysteriously.

If you are looking for recipes from a blog for those of us dealing with food allergies, check out a blog I just found called The Food Allergy Blog ... love the picture of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets!!

Another Call

10 minutes ago ...

Ring Ring

Me: Hello

Little Guy's teacher: Hi. Little Guy grabbed another child's vanilla wafer today and just ate a bite. Do you want me to give him benadryl?

Me: (inward groan) Can you get a look at the ingredients first? They might just be all sugar. If you can't get the ingredients, go ahead and give him a dose ... lord knows he gets enough of it. But be forewarned he might barf.

Little Guy's teacher: I know he did before. I'm really sorry I don't know how he grabbed that cookie so quick.

Me: It's okay. He did the same thing to me the other day. He grabbed a piece of muenster cheese from his brother. I immediately yelled at him to spit it out. So, at most he swallowed a piece the size of a half a dime. But still, 10 minutes later he barfed.

Little Guy's teacher: Okay, I'll check the box and call you back.

5 minutes later .... Ring Ring

Little Guy's teacher: So far he is okay, but the cookies did have milk in it so I gave him the benadryl.

Me: Good. Hopefully he'll be okay. I'll be there soon.

Wish me luck!!!!!

Hot + Cold = Hives

Happy Belated Father's Day! I am grateful for my kids' father. He is great with them and they adore him.

Lately it has been VERY hot and humid here so while at Grandma and Grandpa's for Father's Day, we let the boys play in the blow-up kiddie pool.


A few minutes after Little Guy came out of the pool, while I was drying him off I noticed about 4 hives on his stomach. Of course, he was itching them. Great. This happened to Big Guy last summer. When they go from really hot to pretty cold, they break out in hives! In this case, it was just a couple, so no big deal. Didn't even have to pull out old reliable Benadryl. But jeez!!!

Well, you can see they had fun splashing around, hives or no hives. Just wanted to warn folks that those of us with sensitive kids might see this kind of reaction this summer.

Bad things come in threes

Ugh, Little Guy has had 3 allergic reactions to food in the last 5 days. Here's how it all went down:

Friday: he must have eaten a couple Doritos when our friends were over because next thing I know I look over and he is rubbing his eyes so hard I thought they might pop out! Next thing I know his whole left side of his face is swelling up. Give him a teaspoon of Children's Benadryl and hold a wet cloth to his eyes. After about 15 minutes he was feeling better, eating soy icecream and back to running around in the backyard.

Sunday: He eats a cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera and 4 bites later, he is scratching those eyes again! I asked to see the ingredient list and teaspoon of Benadryl and hold a wet cloth with eyes in it to his eyes. After a three hour power nap, he is fine.

Tuesday: Off he goes to day care. At 12 p.m. I get a call, "Little Guy threw up. Can you come and get him?" When I get there they are holding him and he is calm and relatively okay, but the hives came out right after I hung up with them -- on his face, wrists and stomach. They gave him a teaspoon of Benadryl and he was already better by the time I got there.

What could he have eaten???? I check with his teachers, it doesn't seem like he ate anything he shouldn't have. I checked the label on the bread (the same bread he has eaten many times there). It says in the label "may contain milk products" -- but there isn't a milk product listed it in the ingredients. I guess that was it. But as usual, it's a guessing game - a crap shoot.

Aghh! I took him home and he was fine. I called the allergist and she suggested I put him on a daily does of Claritin for a couple weeks to help "calm down his system." He is now more sensitive to any little allergen because all those histamines are coursing through his body. So things he can normally deal with are causing reactions. It makes it sorta scary to feed him!

But no calls so far from the day care. Thank goodness. I checked the menu carefully today, talked to the cook and told him (and the teacher) what Little Guy could and could not eat.

I saw this study on the Allergy Mom's blog and I agree that while the milk allergy is not "ruining our life," it does add to the daily stress of life. I am pretty used to it (in fact, yesterday the allergist told me I was handling it well and not freaking out) and luckily, don't have to deal with breathing issues, but once in a while I see a kid sit down and eat anything on the table and think, "WOW, that mom is sooo lucky!"

Fruit Salad ... Yummy (oh, you know the rest!)

Getting a children's song stuck in your head is the WORST. At times, I have wanted to stick a fork in my ears to pry the annoying tune out. And the ones that are the WORST of the WORST are these guys. Honestly, I haven't had these guys and their strange music on in our own house in at least two years.

But, when Big Guy asked for this for breakfast .....


I was very proud of his healthy choice. But also, the blueberry-apple combo reminded me of this song .... aghhhhhhhhhh!!! (what is it with those phallic hats??) Regardless of that fact, his "fruit salad"of sorts was a hit and he ate it all up!



One of the two key ingredients are these from Trader Joes (our favorite balloon-giving store)

And while he snacked on that, Little Guy enjoyed some Soy Yogurt.



So, all in all, a very healthy breakfast --- hurrah!!!!!

I can eat that when I'm big

Now that Big Guy has started to out grow his dairy allergy, he can eat regular (or as he says "grown up") yogurt. So this weekend, we found these at the store. We threw some in the freezer and they were a BIG hit for dessert. In fact, he ate two, at which point, the tube became a little too "frosty" for his hands, so he went and got ... well, you can see for yourself.

He at the blue one and the strawberry one. The Shrek pictures on the Go-Gurts were half the fun.



The mis-matched mittens to solve his problem with a too-cold package just kills me. I love the ingenuity!

But, of course, Little Guy also likes Shrek and also also likes yogurt. But they don't make soy yogurt in the cool Shrek go-gurts. So, he got to eat these ...

Mint-Chocolate chip soy ice cream sandwiches. Which are also pretty darn good.

And yummy.

And messy. (Note the partially eaten sandwich hanging out of his mouth so he can show me his hands)


That sandwich was gooood!!!!!!!!! I don't care if it was a soy product!

And as the title of this entry states, Little Guy took the whole thing in stride. He asked for one of the Shrek yogurts and when I said no because it would make him sick. He told me "Okay, but I can eat that when I'm big, right?" I assured him that when he is 4 years old, it is very likely that he can eat that. But I won't promise, because you just don't know.

But, just like Big Guy, he is very accepting of the fact that there are lots of foods he can't eat. He doesn't get mad or upset. (Granted, he does for lots of other things, as a normal 2 year old would.) But he is okay with this food allergies. Thank goodness!!!!!

Working with our schools

I recently got an informative email from a friend of a friend -- who I "met" via this blog -- about what she is doing to prepare for kindergarten for her child. She agreed to let me publish her email so we can all learn a little more about what other moms are doing. She has a 4 year old (nearly 5 years old) daughter who is severely allergic to Peanuts and tree nuts and Eggs. She also has a 2 year old son who is allergic to Milk, Eggs, Red Meat, Cinnamon, Apples, Tomatoes and has outgrown Wheat allergy. He has a soy intolerance as well. So you can see, she has been dealing with food allergies (and lots of them) for quite a while.

I noticed your blog about kindergarten. Lauren is starting too in the
fall. I am meeting to get a 504 plan together.

You should absolutely consider this. We met with a partner at Hinshaw Culbertson who works on the school side and handles almost all the Chicagoland schools and represents them for ADA rules and IHP's and 504's. He recommended to me to do one and get it all in writing. As long as it is a "reasonable request" then they have to comply.

I am insisting on a peanut free lunch area w/ our school because they can't guarantee that someone can wipe down the tables and the handles on the doors, etc....Lauren can't be held responsible at age 5 to do this.

They MUST also train the teachers and teachers MUST administer the Epi PenJr. if need be. Teachers will try to not do this and reference a state contract, BUT the Federal law of ADA supersedes that he told me.

I meet w/ principal and teacher this Wed. at 2:30. Every school has an assigned 504 coordinator. Some schools it's just an extra role the principal or teacher takes on while others have someone who does it full time for the district.

I hope you consider this because I think a 504 plan will help the teachers take it more seriously. I told you, I got the entire downers grove park district to change their food in the vending machines to peanut free and stopped any products containing peanuts from entering any of the pre-school snacks and no more home baked foods whatsoever.

All b-day treats left in the hall to be "take homes". They also must wash their hands or use Handi-Wipes upon entering the classroom. Janitor is required to clean Lauren's classroom first w/ clean towels. I go and "spot check" this once a month as a "surprise" to make sure that's how it is happening. I also pre-approve all snacks before class. I double check the ingredients and they can only bring in foods that have no peanuts and also are safe for Lauren to eat.

I have done a lot of work in my town and honestly, it's difficult, time consuming and parents get mad. But they're only mad a month or two and now no one cares. And for first time moms, they don't' know the difference, it's the moms who has older kids and didn't have to comply. But they got over it.

I just wanted to pass this info along. Also, don't' forget, epi's can be left in classroom NOT in nurses office and can be carried on the child as well... Hope this helps.

Wow, as you can see she has been very busy and working hard to protect her child so she can be a normal kid at school (versus home school or something else). Luckily, Big Guy and Little Guy don't have such severe allergies ... they need to ingest the food they are allergic to, not just have it in the air. But, it's helpful to hear what other folks are doing for their kids.

I have to admit, I had no idea what a 504 plan is, so I went to my handy-dandy allergy-related web pages to learn more. First I went to Allergy Moms where I got linked to FAST where they had lots of links and I swear they had a good example of one of these plans, but for the life of me I can't find it. Anyway, another site defines it as:

The "504" in "504 plan" refers to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which specifies that no one with a disability can be excluded from participating in federally funded programs or activities, including elementary, secondary or post secondary schooling. "Disability" in this context refers to a "physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities." This can include physical impairments; illnesses or injuries; communicable diseases; chronic conditions like asthma, allergies and diabetes; and learning problems. A 504 plan spells out the modifications and accommodations that will be needed for these students to have an opportunity perform at the same level as their peers, and might include such things as wheelchair ramps, blood sugar monitoring, an extra set of textbooks, a peanut-free lunch environment, home instruction, or a tape recorder or keyboard for taking notes.

Good to know. Still not sure what I'll have to do regarding all this for Big Guy, but now I know more about some options.

Can he eat a hamburger bun?

Little Guy started daycare this week with Big Guy. In addition to the fears that he will cry and wail and give me the deathgrip when I try to leave him there, I get to worry about if they will remember NOT to give him the cheese tortellini or the muffin at snack time.

I get to fax documents back and forth to the doctor that give them permission to stick him with the epi-pen if he eats the wrong thing and goes into anaphylaxic shock. And more documents that allow them to give him benadryl.

But I am lucky, one of the reasons we chose this center for Big Guy is how well they handle food allergies. They post a picture of him in the room with a list of his food allergies so if a new teacher comes in the room she can see immediatley what his issues are. The whole school is nut-free, so I don't have to worry about peanuts in anything. And they have special menu items for kids with food allergies or who are vegetarians. But still .... I worry.

The teacher even called me at lunch yesterday to ask, "Can he eat a hamburger bun?" I told her it should be fine, but I knew there was a teeny-tiny chance there was egg in the bun. But since 90 percent of the buns I've looked at in the past four years, don't have egg in them, I hoped it would be okay.

And really, these things can creep up at the weirdest times, when you think you have done everything right. Like when Karen's son had a reaction to a tiny bit of egg on his hands. So, if it can happen to the mom, it can happen at school when I am miles and miles away.

And my Little Guy, like Sarah's Katherine, will learn this is just part of who he is. But it is another thing to worry about. And I totally agree with Sarah when she says that caring for your child is a privilege, not a chore, but you have to admit it is one more thing to worry about.

But, really, look at that face? How could you NOT want to do whatever you need to to keep him safe.
And we all know, that every mom worries. And every mom has something to deal with with their kid. It might be lots of ear infections and having to get tubes in their ears. It might be a delay in speech. It might be a wicked temper. Everyone has something, right?

His First Jolly "Recital"

Last week (I know this is late!) Big Guy sang in his first recital at school. It was very cute. Despite his often shy demeanor he told me it was fun and he liked it .... finally his drama queen tendencies he gets from me are coming in handy.

Oh and when I say "school" I really mean daycare. I think that is a term we all use to try to distance ourselves from the bad reputations that many daycare centers have had over the years. And of course, the guilt of not taking "care" of our kid ourselves in the day. So, we call it school so we feel like they are there because it will advance their education.

Anyway, the recital was a "Jolly Phonics" recital where all the kids two years old and up could show the parents the songs they are learning to learn their letters. It was fairly hilarious -- and something straight out of Parenthood -- when all the parents pulled out their cameras (and I was right there with them!) and started filming this momentous event.

And he is such a superstar, he had another recital for Catholic Pre-School of Religion where he sang more songs ... these about Jesus. This recital had snacks afterward so I made sure to grab a couple bags of Teddy Grahams in case there wasn't anything there for the boys to eat.

Two shows in one week. Wow! I think it is the beginning of a trend!!

It's a small, small (blog) world

Sarah at No Whey Mama clued me in to the Vegan Lunchbox and Shmooed Food in her comment to my last post.

At the same time, my mother-in-law was busy making "muffins" with Big and Little Guy.

Not exactly their best glamour shots, but you might be able to tell that they do really enjoy these muffins. Okay, you probably can't tell from Big Guy's photo (on the right). He looks sorta confused or worried.

Grandma lets them take a cheese spreader and add their own frosting to the "muffin

So, I asked her if I could get a copy of the recipe. And she sent me an email to let me know she found it on the Vegan Lunchbox site and it was actually the Fluffy While Cupcakes recipe. The first time she made them she didn't include the coconut extract. The second time she used lemon extract because it was what she had in the cupboard.

Smart Grandma! She knew all about that great site long before I did. But isn't it cool? I found about it through my new blog friends

Speaking of new friends, check out Karen's blog, Because I Said So. Her son has egg and peanut allergies and one of the many things she blogs about is dealing with these allergies. She shares a heartbreaking story about what happened to her son when he ate a homemade cookie ... luckily it didn't result in a trip to the ER, but definitely was a difficult experience for her son.

All this talk of baking (not to mention 3 brown squishy bananas sitting on my counter) inspired me to make banana bread with the boys.

Here is the recipe ...

Banana Bread

3 large ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 egg -- I use Energ-G egg replacer
4 T.
butter or margarine
1 1/2
cup flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Heat oven to 325
Grease
9x5 loaf pan
Mash bananas, beat in sugar, egg, butter
Stir in remaining ingredients until just moistened
Pour in pan
Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean

Yummmy! Enjoy.

Filling the Pantry

I am including a new section to my blog called “Filling the Pantry.” See it on the right-hand side below the blog archive.

I was inspired when I saw the “Foods” section in No Whey Mama’s blog . By the way she has posted some good-looking recipes. I want to try the Monkey cookies -- I’ll just need to use the egg replacer and skip the nuts.

Anyway, when I started this blog I wanted it to be a humorous (on the rare good day) resource for people and place to share experiences and tips. I have always said that dealing with food allergies is MUCH easier once you know how to fill your pantry with various “safe” things that your child can eat.

I have included lots of references to different products we like at our house, like here and here. But I thought listing cool products on the right would make it a lot easier for the “hordes” of people that read this blog.

When I was roaming other blogs, I did find a reference to Divvies. But I need to see them kid-tested by Big Guy and Little Guy before I will post it on the Filling the Pantry section. They look yummy. Has any one tried any of these out?

Also, let me know if you have any other good food suggestions.

Thanks!

First Step Towards Kindergarten

One small step for Big Guy ... one giant leap for Mommy!

Earlier this week I signed up Big Guy for kindergarten. I absolutely think he is ready, so I'm not too freaked out about my "baby" going to school, but it is a lot to take in. And of course, on top of everything else, I need to think about the food allergy thing.

I filled out the forms and listed all of his allergies (luckily there is a looong blank line on the form!) and mentioned it to the mom-volunteer at registration. She said, "oh, they are really good here for kids with food allergies, they even have their own table in the cafeteria."

Oh.

I guess that is good news.

Right?

Because every mom dreams of having their child ostracized and forced to sit away from everyone else. Right?

There aren't enough other things that make kids feel worried and bad about themselves. When I was in 3rd grade, Adam G. teased me every day on the bus about my hairy arms and told me I looked like a gorilla. Hi ... nearly 30 years later and I still feel a teeny-tiny bit self-conscious about my arms. (Note: they are hairy, but they are blonde hairs and not too unusual.)

I digress. I KNOW it is a good thing to protect the kids. I KNOW there are kids out there who have severe food allergies. But evidently, I'm not alone in this fear. Check out this "Allergy Nation" article, especially the section on School Rules. I found it on Check My Tag. Thanks, Ria.

We have the kindergarten parent's night on April 30, so I'm sure I'll learn more there. Big Guy can, luckily, tolerate a lot more of the food that used to make him sick. He now eats regular yogurt and cheese. He knows not to eat peanuts and other nuts. And he is fine being near peanut products. For example, I eat a peanut butter sandwich right next to him while he eats the Sunbutter sandwich.

So, I don't really think he needs to be at a seperate table. Espescially because kindergarten is only 2 1/2 hours long, so the whole issue of eating in the cafeteria won't come up until first grade.

I'm sure there will be LOTS more to blog about on this subject.

Anyone else have experience with starting your allergy kid at regular "big kid" school??

Easter Bunny

Whew ... I just finished putting out the spoils from the Easter Bunny. As you might imagine, there are many treats that are not available to me for my kids. No chocolate bunnies or Cadbury eggs. However, they can eat jelly beans, hurrah!

Also, there are very cute Sweet Tart eggs with stickers so you can decorate the plastic eggs with eyes, nose and a face and create your very own egg family. These treats are okay for my boys to eat. And I found new candy-coated licorice that is delish!

Evidently there are other parents who want alternatives to candy to give their kids on Easter morning ... I found a package of plastic eggs filled with various morning cartoon characters: Dora, Boots, Diego, Blue, SpongeBob and Patrick. No candy, just more little toys to litter my house.

Overall, I think the boys will be happy and have fun looking for the eggs. Frankly, any kid is happy getting CANDY before breakfast, whether it be Sweet Tarts or a gigantic chocolate bunny.

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Back!

I know it has been ages (in blog time, at least) since I last wrote. And just as things were sorta heating up at "He Can't Eat That!" My last post about the food allergy clothing generated several great comments. So, thank you!

And it elicited a "lurker" and fellow mom of a food allergy kid to say hello. Sarah, at "No Whey, Mama" posted a comment to let me know that she listed "He Can't Eat That!" in her blog roll. Cool!!! I think that might be a first. Hurrah! And I'd love to return the favor, so I am adding Sarah's blog to my Mommy Blogger list.

As a result, I've checked out her blog and it is a good read. I can relate to her entry about her daughter's note to anyone watching her about what she can't eat. Little Guy regularly tells me "I can't eat that Mommy. It has eggs in it and makes me sick."

And as I think I wrote earlier every once in a while we play "What will you say if someone gives you ....?" This game involves me saying to the boys, "Pretend I am a friend at school and I tell you 'Hey, try these peanut candies. They are great!'" And then, Big Guy says "No thank you. I'm allergic to peanuts." And Little Guy puts his mouth into my outstretched hand and pretends to eat up the pretend candies. And he laughs hysterically. Hmmmm. I'm not too worried about this killer behaviour because he is my little ham and comic and I'm pretty sure he is doing this for the laugh. The fact that in real situations he asks me if he can eat things leads me to believe he sorta gets it. Plus he is younger and doesn't eat food without me or one of the grandparents around.

Anyway, the point is that even at a young age, these kids get it.

Well, tomorrow is Easter. A VERY interesting holiday for kids with egg allergies. I'll be back very soon with more on how we are handling a holiday that revolves around eggs!

Food Allergy Clothing … Next Hot Item on the Runway?

Hey! This blog thing is working! What do I mean? I mean that thanks to this blog I have gotten hooked into other web sites and blogs that deal with food allergies through comments like this to my posts.

And like everything on the web, once you start clicking on one site it takes you to 10 more cool related (or unrelated, but interesting) sites.

So, now I have a plethora of things to blog about, but for this post, I want to focus on the allergy clothing that is out there. Who knew? Not me!

Liz at Mom-101 showed me these items at her other site, Cool Mom Picks. And thanks to Ria for the comment that led me to her site Check My Tag where they sell clothing that alerts people to the fact that your child has a food allergy and what to do if they eat something off-limits. And then through all that clicking around, I found the patches would require that my guys wear 4 patches … isn’t that a bit much??

Anyway, for fun today I showed Big Guy the different sites and his reaction to the Allergators, “That’s silly. Alligators don’t have allergies.” And the shirt at jeeto that he liked best was the dinosaur one. Go figure!

Anyway, if anyone has any thought or experiences on using these types of clothes, please ler me know!!

"March"ing Along

Wow! It is already MARCH!!!!

It has been awhile (again) since I last posted. I have to admit I am not always feeling it. I do enjoy reading other people's blogs, and I was sad to see a much more experienced blogging mom decide to take a permanent break.

But, like most mothers, I feel pulled in so many directions. It's hard to find time for this creative outlet. Mary at Mom Writes talked about slowing down in the blogging world too. And being somewhat of a perfectionist, I always think I need to have a really funny or meaningful thing to say. But that's not really true in blogland, right? I also get down by the lack of comments, but I shouldn't because I read lots of blogs and don't comment ... I think that is called "lurking."

Also, recently I was inspired by the Lazy Organizer blog and my mom, who has been organizing her whole house. So, last week I cleaned out the pantry/extra dishes/vases/etc. closet in the basement and made that look purdy. AND I cleaned out the medicine/shampoo/everything else closet in my bathroom. Those two feats took professional help (aka my mom came over and cheered me on).

But this weekend I cleaned out Little Guy's closet ... how many diaper bags do I need???? And today I cleaned out the frig ....how many jars of salsa do I need??? And I did those two cleaning jobs on my OWN! So, needless to say, keeping my home from turning into a pigsty also takes up blogging time. (Not to mention my pesky job!)

Also, I have been reading "Surrendering to Motherhood" a book my friend recommended. It really gets you thinking about what is important. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, while I am blogging here today, Big Guy was drawing. Below is his masterpiece, titled, "Bat." Enjoy!



P.S. The words at the top are a result of his interest in letters and copying the letters in the book we read, "Bats at the Beach" that sparked his interest in drawing the bat in the first place.

The Problem with Breakfast Bars

I know that breakfast bars are basically a good marketing gimmick to give people cookies for breakfast -- including kids. I mean, really, how different is a breakfast bar from a fig newton?

Anyway, if you've read this blog before you know that breakfast can be a difficult meal for kids with allergies ... no eggs, etc. Like a lot of moms, I sometimes give in and let the boys eat a breakfast bar for a treat for breakfast ... usually followed by a mandatory yogurt. Up until the time we found out that Little Guy can have wheat, I gave him bars like these. But now I want to give him bars that I can get at the regular grocery store .... but, NOOOOOO! I can't find any. They all seem to have eggs or dairy or nuts in them.

Big Guy can have these because he is growing out of his dairy allergies and can tolerate some dairy in baked goods. But I can't find any regular breakfast bars that Little Guy can eat. So, guess what he can eat in the breakfast bar "cookie" aisle? Pop-tarts!!

Yep, that's it. If I feel guilt over breakfast bars, you know what I must think about pop-tarts! And yet, you also know that I hate to deny the kids things because of the allergies. So, now they get pop-tarts as a treat once in while.

So, if you have any suggestions for breakfast bars that the boys can eat, PLEASE send them my way!!