Surviving Your Child’s Diagnosis: “Peanut Allergy”

If you’re anything like me, this picture instantly strikes fear in your heart and gets your adrenaline rushing.  An estimated 3.1 million children in the US have food allergies, and my daughter happens to be one of them. She is highly allergic to peanuts and is likely to have an anaphylactic reaction if she ingests anything with peanut protein.

I still remember getting the diagnosis over four years ago from our pediatric allergist and feeling so devastated.  My daughter wasn’t even two years-old at that point and the thought of such a tiny, innocent creature being so vulnerable to such a pervasive ingredient was more than I could handle.  I recall going to Whole Foods the next day to re-stock our entire pantry and almost breaking down in the frozen food section because I felt so lost and overwhelmed by all the life or death choices I would now need to make on a daily basis (do you I buy her food that has been manufactured in a plant that uses peanuts but uses good manufacturing practices to protect against contamination or do I forgo it?)

My daughter is six now, and I’m pleased to say that she hasn’t ever had to use her Epipen Jr. and that we lead a very normal life.  When you are told that your child has a severe allergy, you very quickly figure out your “new” way of living.  You bring Benadryl and an Epipen everywhere you go.  You still go out to dinner, but you avoid certain cuisines like the plague and overindulge in other cuisines. In our case, we NEVER bring our daughter to an Asian restaurant but feel relatively comfortable in Italian places. You also quickly discover which food brands are generally safe, which candies are always/sometimes/never peanut-free, and how to make a mean Betty Crocker cupcake for all those birthday parties your child is invited to where the birthday cake may or may not contain peanuts.  Play dates at friends’ houses are a tad trickier to navigate in terms of snacks, but we generally send our own with our daughter and make sure the supervising adult is painfully aware of her allergy and how to use an Epipen.

I can’t say that having a child with a severe food allergy is no big deal.  However, it’s like many of the things that life hands to you: not what you would have wished for, but in the long run, completely manageable.

Sites to check out:

http://www.foodallergy.org/

www.vermontnutfree.com

www.peanutfreeplanet.com

Crochet Baby Rattles and Kids’ Toys…a Sneak Peak

I really love crochet toys that are made by hand.  I’m not picky, I like all the different variations–the baby rattles, the kids’ toys, the finger puppets.  It’s the fact that they they are hand-made that gets me.  It gives these toys more character and a story.  Plus, the fact that they are not mass-produced gives their creators the potential to create something offbeat, quirky, and original.  And if  there’s one thing I really adore, it’s something original.

We recently set about creating some crochet animals of our own.  Our goal was to invent some unusual characters that we thought would appeal to babies and kids alike.  We of course wanted them to be soft to the touch and attractive, but most of all,  we wanted our crochet toys to be DIFFERENT.  No teddy bears.  No smiling suns. No flowers with goofy-looking faces.

Since much of my inspiration comes from my kids, the first thing I thought of was my four year-old son and his obsession with dinosaurs.  In the past year, my husband and I have scoured the internet to find all things dinosaur.  We got the dino lunch box.  We got the dinosaur shirt.  We even got the dinosaur wood puzzle. But nowhere could we find a nice dinosaur that our son could roam the earth with by day and cuddle up to by night.

Eureka.  Crochet toys number one and two.  We found a wonderful group of Peruvian women who could crochet like champs and set forth the crochet dinosaur challenge.  We had to work out some kinks (not so easy to get t-rex’s perfectly stumpy arms right), but in the end we created a gorgeous t-rex and a fantastic stegosaurus (pictures to follow shortly, I promise).   The blue guy above is our crochet goat rattle and he will be joined by an orange cat, a grey moose, and a duck rattle.  For those of you looking for something a little smaller, we also created some crochet mini rattles: a baby bunny, a baby duck, a baby panda, and a baby elephant.  All of these will be appearing shortly in the shop and online.

We’re thrilled with our new crocheted toys and we hope all of you will be as well.  I know my son will be delighted to finally be able to sleep with the dinosaurs.