When DJ was diagnosed with PA, one of the first things I worried about was whether or not he would be able to enjoy the same activities as other kids.
Yeah...I know. Obviously, concerns about his health were, and remain, paramount. My husband and I do everything we can to keep our kid safe. It's our top priority at all times; we never forget about the stupid f-ing peanut.
Still, I worry about whether he will feel left out at birthday parties if he can't eat the cake, or will be scared to collect candy at Halloween. Will he be safe at school? We he feel singled out there, or get teased because of it? He's not in school yet; he's not even out of diapers, so these are questions I can't answer yet.
What I do know is that keeping him home from school to miss out on something that every other kid gets to do has never even crossed my mind. To do so would be to give into something I don't want for him; to miss out on anything he wants to experience in life because of his life-threatening allergy.
It's people like the ones featured in this article that, in my opinion, make living with peanut allergy worse than it really is, singling their own kids out before they even get the chance to be normal. I know everyone has their own risk tolerance, but kids with PA shouldn't be kept in a bubble. They're just normal kids who can't eat peanuts.
Our allergist has cautioned us more than once not to let this allergy rule our existence. We've got to learn to live with it, and so does DJ. Staying home from school when the time comes won't be an option.
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Great post. My daughter (6) has treenut and peanut allergies. But I want her to get involved in activities and thus far it has worked. Just tonight I went to sign her up for Daisies and meetings are weekly and drop off. There's a snack time, so when I inquired and explained about the allergy, the troop later said, okay we'll let others know not to bring those items and how about I make you the snack coordinator. So far, this is working out okay, and that's good because she's really excited about it...
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thanks. It's great you're getting your daughter involved in normal activities! Being snack coordinator will help you keep the situation under control. I think there are always strategies like that that can be used to help PA kids fit in. Good for you.
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