Conner's "Peel Out"

Ok so- this post is just a quick informative vent/plea/story. I am an "allergy mom". There. I said it. My two year old son (Conner) has quite a few allergies- some of which are deadly to him. (In order from worst to least severe: Banana, avocado, kiwi, cabbage, chestnut, pear, peanut, almond, cow's milk <--which I think we may have over come!!! :) and then theres the annoying things, like red dye, dust, and latex that just itch and bother when hes exposed to too much.) But we are different from a lot of other "allergy parents". We are pretty laid back- and we cringe when people say things like "allergy mom" "allergy dad" and "allergy parents". So you should know that when I said I was an "allergy mom" I only said it to grab your attention and bring notice to what I am saying. Conner is a child. Our child. He isn't a statistic. Or a freak show. Or by any means someone to be treated differently. We dont shield him from the world that he is going to have to grow up in. We dont keep the things he is allergic to out of the house. Why should we? We are adults, and we are responsible, and oh yea, we are parents. It's our job to be able to manage several things, or situations at a time. It's what we do (especially the moms, right ladies?! ;) Before I go any further, I want to throw out there that if you are one of those parents who does things I just stated that I do not, thats great, we all do what works for us- I am not saying either way is right or wrong, but the way that we do things seems to make more sense in reality- for us. Conner knows when we have something that he can't have, he will get his own "version" of that, and being the well mannered child that he is, he accepts it and moves on. He eats very healthy, and he is extremely happy. Yes, we have to wipe down shopping carts, tables, chairs, whatever we touch when we have Conner, and we are always washing our hands. But we do it without stressing, and we do it because we have to. Anyway. Back to the main point of this post. We had an incident at the playground yesterday, and I posted about it on FB and that was that. Well, tonight, one of my family members sent out post about the situation to raise some awareness, and I was so touched by the response and that several more family members re posted it as well as some others. It totally touched me. So- Playground yesterday. I took Conner, and the two children that I watch during the summer, and it was a gorgeous day and we had the place to ourselves. The eight year old girl(Sam) that I watch pointed out that conner had some "red spots" (hives) on his face and I went to check them out. Yep. Hives. Great. So I do the usual rundown. Check behind his ears, his neck, belly and back. Yep all covered in hives. Time for benadryl. So I instructed everyone to follow me to the shade where my bag is- and carried Conner. By the time I got the medicine bag (equipped with medicine droppers, tylenol, sunblock, bug spray, and of course, benadryl and epi pens) out of the cooler bag, Conner's legs and arms are now covered. Looks like a double dose of benadryl this time. I sat him down, gave him his doses, carefully and subtly pulled out the epi pen just in case- wiped down everyones hands and faces and waited. 2 minutes and the hives start to fade. we all have some water, check Conners breathing and play with him in the shade to see if hes ok- which he is. thank goodness. easy peasy. This is where I thank myself for being so laid back. All of that without breaking a sweat, calling for help or freaking out. Because i was able to do with a clear mind, and confidence in myself. 15 min and most of the hives are gone. I put the epi pen away and we move to the other side of the playground (there are 2 play areas at this playground) because I am cool like that. I'm not going to freak out and leave when he wants to play- and he is clearly fine. On our way to the other part of the play ground I notice a brown pile on the ground near the play area. Banana PEEL. (DUN DUN DUUUNNNNN) That's our worst. "Ok sorry guys, no more play ground stuff, but we can still play in the grass with our ball and bubbles" Problem solved. End of story. Except it wasn't. I jumped on FB via my iPhone to vent for a sec about moms letting their children eat while they play. They aren't going to starve at the playground if they don't eat while they use the equipment. They just wont. And if they do- you have a much bigger problem than I do. It is so so soooo important to be aware of childrens allergies. It is a serious issue that is easily over looked. I belong to several forums (which I never interect in I just read) and I know several people with children with allergies, and I find SO often that those people think that they are so high and mighty because their children eat healthy- when it's only because they are forced to. I mean, thats great, but just because you aren't giving your kids nuts or dairy (which generally are in every junk food) doesn't mean its ok to let your children run around with healthy food either. Because fruit allergies are just as serious.- I've seen it. bad. And you don't ever want to see your child the way I had to see Conner when it happened. The point is- every child is different. Assume that SOMEONE is allergic to whatever you are eating. I mean come on- BANANA? who is allergic to that?! I know. But we are, and there are other people too. Have your children sit off to the side to have their snack, away from the other kids and equipment. And always carry wipes to clean faces and hands if there isn't a sink available. Allergies aside, it's safer and it creates better eating habbits. So after seeing the awesome response that my original post generated, I wanted to give a huge thanks for everyone who was part of that, for supporting Conner, it means so much to us. I also am including this link where you can learn more about Anaphylaxis (this is the type of reaction Conner would have to Banana's if he ingests them- not just comes in contact with, like at the palyground)and Food Allergies . Thank you all for reading, feel free to share! xoxox

Conner playing :)