Comments on: Balancing Safety and Fear http://kidsfoodallergiesblog.com/2008/08/09/balancing-safety-and-fear/ A forum about food, health, and quality of life issues for food allergic kids, their friends, and families Wed, 7 Jan 2009 04:27:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Poker Chick http://kidsfoodallergiesblog.com/2008/08/09/balancing-safety-and-fear/#comment-1566 Poker Chick Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:40:04 +0000 http://kidsfoodallergiesblog.com/2008/08/09/balancing-safety-and-fear/#comment-1566 I totally agree. Our public school's "solution" to handling food allergies is to have a para-professional follow the child around all the time. Talk about opening your kid up for ridicule. I think the long-term fear and compromising of social skill development that come out of that kind of "protection" do more damage than any risk of cross-contamination. We live in the real world. My kid is now eating lunch with kids and who knows what they bring. I've done my best, but the kid deserves as normal a life as possible. As for me, well, I would sleep easier at night if I could always control her food environment, but I'd be depriving her of her childhood. It's a sucky, sucky situation. All I can do is educate people on it, do my best to create a protected environment, and pray she grows out of at least some of them and that she isn't affected by managing the disease nearly as much as I am. I totally agree. Our public school’s “solution” to handling food allergies is to have a para-professional follow the child around all the time. Talk about opening your kid up for ridicule. I think the long-term fear and compromising of social skill development that come out of that kind of “protection” do more damage than any risk of cross-contamination.

We live in the real world. My kid is now eating lunch with kids and who knows what they bring. I’ve done my best, but the kid deserves as normal a life as possible. As for me, well, I would sleep easier at night if I could always control her food environment, but I’d be depriving her of her childhood.

It’s a sucky, sucky situation. All I can do is educate people on it, do my best to create a protected environment, and pray she grows out of at least some of them and that she isn’t affected by managing the disease nearly as much as I am.

]]> By: Miryam (mama o' matrices) http://kidsfoodallergiesblog.com/2008/08/09/balancing-safety-and-fear/#comment-812 Miryam (mama o' matrices) Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:40 +0000 http://kidsfoodallergiesblog.com/2008/08/09/balancing-safety-and-fear/#comment-812 guard dogs? That's one way to keep the child from becoming their own advocate. I'd say balance: out of the house with your supervision, your training of the people responsible, your gut instinct that tells you you've found a reasonable, worthwhile risk. And then rethink that balance constantly, because the child isn't a constant factor - they grow, develop allergies, lose them, learn to protect themselves (somewhat), etc - and your balance shifts with them. But I vote NO for guard dogs. guard dogs? That’s one way to keep the child from becoming their own advocate.

I’d say balance: out of the house with your supervision, your training of the people responsible, your gut instinct that tells you you’ve found a reasonable, worthwhile risk. And then rethink that balance constantly, because the child isn’t a constant factor - they grow, develop allergies, lose them, learn to protect themselves (somewhat), etc - and your balance shifts with them.

But I vote NO for guard dogs.

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