Kindergarten Bound with Allergies

My son will be starting kindergarten next year. He is allergic to peanuts.

Many of my regular readers and friends, have asked me to share what I am doing to make sure he is safe at school. This is the first post of what I am sure will be many about our journey into the public school system with a severe peanut allergy (PA).

Above all else, throughout the process of educating and making preparations, make sure you support you school. Be involved in your school.

My PA son is my second child so I already have a student in the school that he will be attending. I became involved with the school right away. I have attended PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) meetings for the last two years. I was involved long before the staff or principal had any idea that I had a child with a peanut allergy.

I know that if you have a PA child that is your oldest child, getting involved at the school will happen when your child gets ready to go to school. That's fine. I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from. I also want you to know that I think being involved helps build relationships. Having healthy relationships with the staff is an essential part of protecting a child with a food allergy.

Step 1: The first thing we did to prepare for school is have an appointment with our son's allergist. We talked to him about our concerns and got his recommendations. We had a lot of questions. Our school has never had a child with a peanut allergy (or another serious food allergy).

Our allergist gave us a "Food Allergy Treatment Form" that we could pass on to the school. This describes symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction, what to look for and what steps to take in an emergency. (I can scan this in for you at another time if you are interested.)

Step 2: We scheduled an appointment with the Princial and the school nurse during the Spring of the year prior to when he starts Kindergarten to discuss his peanut allergy and how the school will handle it.

We wanted to be proactive. We want to give the school as much time as possible to make preparations. We were thanked for contacting them so early.

Before the meeting, my husband and I came up with a list of what we wanted to cover during the meeting. My husband checked off the items as we discussed them. I provided a history of David's allergy and gave them a copy of my What I’d Like for You To Know guest post.

Decisions were made such as:
- They will talk about the Peanut Allergy at Kindergarten Orientation. They will hand out information to the parents.
- A letter will be sent home with the kids at the Kindergarten Assessment.
- We will meet with all of the kindergarten teachers and aids (and other staff like PE and music teachers) the week before school starts.
- We will meet with the school nurse to develop an Emergency Health Care Plan.

It was a good meeting. We were educating them about food allergies. We discussed how to keep his room safe. We talked about how to make the school safer for David. (I will write more about the precautions we are taking later.)

Step 3: I believe part of protecting my son means taking initiative. I am providing the school with as much information as I can and I am asking lots questions.

Tomorrow is Kindergarten Orientation. I talked to the school nurse yesterday. She is planning on handing out some PAL information. I stopped by the school this morning.

They printed 1) the information I gave them from FAAN about reading labels. 2) An example label: A bag of lettuce contains a nut warning!

and 3) This info about Foods that Might Contain Nuts


I asked if food was going to be served at the Orientation.

They responded with surprise and a look that said, "I didn't think of that." They brought out a pre-packaged container of cookies from the grocery store bakery. I showed them the peanut warning on the package. They are buying a separate package of Oreos, which will be placed on a separate plate for him.

I will continue to let you know how everything unfolds. Much of what will happen will take place in the weeks before school starts. I am excited and a bit nervous about Kindergarten Orientation tomorrow.

Lost... in thought

Do you ever have so much on your mind that you cannot think straight?

On Saturday night, I crawled into bed and then remembered the laundry in the washer. I tried unsuccessfully to convince my husband to get out of bed and put the clothes in the dryer. I did not want to get out of bed. He didn't either. I fell asleep wondering if I would need to rewash those clothes.

Sunday morning I discovered that the clothes had not been washed. They were in the washer. The soap had been added. The washer had never even been started.

I get distracted all the time.

I often walk into one room, look around and wonder why I am there. Then, I have to walk back where I came from just to retrack my thought process.

I figured out my problem. My mind is too cluttered.

Just like clutter in my home can keep me from being able to relax. My cluttered mind can keep me from being able to be productive.

I think about too many things at once.

Not long ago, I sat in a meeting unable to concentrate on the topic being discussed. It was a meeting with people discussing a subject that I really care about. I began to make a To Do list just so I wouldn't sit there obsessing about the rest of my day. I got nothing out of that meeting. I also didn't make progress on my To Do list while I sat there. I had too much on my mind and I couldn't focus on what mattered at the moment.

I have decided to declutter my mind. I know it isn't going to be easy.

I have decided I want to be present in my thoughts. I am going to focus on one thing at a time. I will gradually improve.

I want to be present in my thoughts, actively engaged in what I am doing.

The last few times I have cleaned the kitchen, I cleaned it in record time. I didn't take one thing into another room and get distracted by something in that room. I didn't jump on and off the computer as I was working. I didn't remember a phone call I needed to make and stop and get on the phone. I focused on the task of cleaning the kitchen. It was simple and quick. I felt satisfied when I was done. I didn't spend hours trying to get the kitchen clean.

I want to be present in my thoughts, attentive to those that are talking to me.

I can have so much on my mind that I don't listen. I care about those around me and I need to show them by giving them my attention. When I am distracted by my agenda or my next question, I am not listening to my spouse. When I am thinking about what I need to do next, I am not listening to my chilren. I will give my attention to the person I am listening to.

I want to be present in my thoughts, less distracted by issues that affect my emotions.

The other morning I woke up and checked my email. I read an email that frustrated me. A few minutes later my husband told me something that I disagreed with. I was extremely irritated. We had a heated discussion. We ended up working it out that day. It was a day or so later when I recognized and apologized for letting an unrelated situation affect my emotions.

I am convinced that having an overactive, burdened mind interfers with my relationships, my productivity, my common sense, and my happiness. It enables overreactions and poor decisions.

I am paying attention to my thoughts. When I recognize a distraction, I refocus my attention. I am training my mind.

This was put on my heart this week when I realized that even when I am not constantly on the go, my mind can be swirling with out-of-control activity.

I encourage you to take captive every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Time To Relax

I am going to take a nice long bath today... and I am going to lock the bathroom door.

This is not going to happen.


This will be me.

What's Feasible When Your Brother has a Peanut Allergy?

Jonathan brought this paper home this week. One of the questions he missed made me smile. The teacher circled the correct answer. He put a big "NO" next to "making a peanut butter sandwich". I love it! Apparently, making a cat sing is more feasible to him that making a peanut butter sandwich.

By the way, the definition of feasible is: Doable, possible, achievable, workable. Making a peanut butter sandwich in our house is not feasible.

I think Jonathan should have gotten extra credit.