With summer in full swing, I've been to busy to blog, but a conversation with DJ last night is still sitting heavy on my mind. Normally we all eat dinner together, but last night, I fed DJ separately, thinking my hub and I would order in some forbidden Chinese food after he was in bed.
Well, DJ woke up when the doorbell rang and started in. I went up to comfort him when he asked if we had ordered pizza in. I said no - Chinese. Can I try some? No, I'm sorry you can't. It has peanuts. He looked sort of bewildered and asked if that meant we would get sick if he tried it. Of course, I had to say yes. Then he started whimpering that he too was hungry and wanted something to eat.
I grabbed him a drinking yogurt, and came back upstairs, where I tried to explain that the Chinese food was a treat for Daddy and I. He seemed okay with it - especially after I promised we would order pizza tonight and that he could have his own dipping sauce (man that kid loves sauce!).
Still, the whole experience left me feeling sort of crappy.
Along those same lines, DJ attended his first birthday party last week. It was a success, with no reaction and he had a great time, but the lead up was awkward for both of us; me, trying to feel out the mom on the menu and DJ for anxiety that he wouldn't be able to eat the birthday cake.
While he may be a bit young for me to throw the idea out there that he may not be able to eat everything at the party, I wanted to prepare him ahead of time to avoid any toddler meltdowns.
Food Allergens – International Regulatory Chart
4 years ago
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Hi again. Sorry you felt bad about treating yourself to Chinese Food. But I sometimes try to think of peanut stuff the way I think of beer, ds can't have any beer or coffee or spicy food and I don't feel guilty about that. So, sometimes there are just things he can't have that I can, peanuts or no peanuts. Mommy and Daddy deserve a treat sometimes too- next time just don't even mention the nuts, just say it's for Mommy and Daddy only and he should be sleeping! (But ordering pizza the next day was a great idea, hope it was delicious! It's my son's favourite food).
ReplyDeleteTry not to feel bad. I think if you just handle it casually without making too big of a deal of it, he'll be fine with it over time. Because while you don't want him to feel left out, it is also important for him to know that people around him are sometimes going to be eating things that he cannot, and that that's okay.
ReplyDeleteGlad the birthday party went well. I'm not sure of your son's age, but as long as you don't say anything to frighten him, I think he's never too young to start learning not to eat certain things. My daughter is 3 now, and she can tell you her allergens, but it's been a slow work in progress -- it takes a lot of repetition before they start to get it. Even now I sometimes feel like she's really getting it and then she'll say something that indicates she doesn't (like saying "yes" when someone offers her a pb&j). Sometimes I feel bad bringing this stuff up to her, like we're talking about allergies too much, when all I want is for her to lead a "normal" life, but I know that discussing it is the only way she'll learn.