They're Called Nut Allergies NOT "Nut Allergies"

As a writer I have a few many pet peeves when it comes to proper usage of words, grammar, and punctuation.

For example, when I see a letter from our parish that says this: There are many children registered for our program that have “nut allergies”. Because of this, we are asking that all parents send their children with “nut free” snacks.

....it makes me a bit stabby.

There is NO reason to put the words nut allergies in quotes. To do so (in my writer's mind) is to minimize the severity of said allergies. They aren't "nut allergies" or "food allergies" (just picture a smarmy person with a smug look on their face making air quotes when they say nut allergies or food allergies and maybe you can understand my ire).

No one says that someone has "cancer" or "diabetes" or "heart disease." So why do food allergies get relegated to something that is "not real" thanks to the addition of quotation marks?

And yes, I'm sure some of you out there think I'm overreacting but this really, seriously bugs me. A lot.

Why can't it just be written like this: There are many children registered for our program who have food allergies including peanuts and tree nuts. Because of this we are asking that all parents send their children with peanut and tree nut free snacks.

THAT would make it so much better and less annoying.

It's little things like the use of quotation marks around food allergies that - in my opinion - lead people to think that they aren't as serious as other diseases. With food allergies (as a whole) on the rise, it's about damn time people take them seriously and stop putting quotation marks around them.

#EndRant

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say...

It's been a while since I've been here on the blog so I'm not thrilled that today is a vent rather than something useful.

But when someone says something to me and it sticks in my brain all day buzzing around, I suppose that means I have to write it down. Damn bees in my bonnet.

So today at school it was the dreaded "muffins for moms/doughnuts for dads" annual nonsense. I truly detest this event but that's a whole different post.

At the end of the event we were trying to figure out what to do with the dozens of left-over doughnuts and someone suggested saving them for the 5th graders to enjoy after their field trip.

Now, it should be noted that I had already combined the "nut free" doughnuts with the "regular" doughnuts because I assumed the whole tray was going to the teacher's lounge.

Me: Do we have any peanut or tree nut allergies in the 5th grade? Because if we do I already mixed up the doughnuts so that wouldn't work.

The responses ranged from:

"No I don't think so."

"We only have one that MUST sit at the peanut-free table and he's not in fifth grade."

"We have a few kids but they have to ingest the food to get sick." (Really? You know that for a fact, do ya?)

And then this gem from someone on staff at the school: "We don't have any issues ever since your daughter left." And then she LAUGHED.

What. The. F*ck. (Language, I know. But seriously.)

I just looked at this person - a hard stare, actually - and then walked away.

How dare you be so stupid to deem my daughter's allergies a "problem".
How dare you be so arrogant to find that funny.

There is nothing funny about food allergies. Ever.

I probably could have said something but in this case you just can't fix stupid.

Trick-or-Treat!

Well it's here.

Halloween.

[sigh]

I have my teal pumpkin and a bowl of non-candy spider rings ready for trick-or-treating. I also have a bowl of candy for any kids who want a food treat rather than a non-food treat.

Tonight the kids went to their grandmother's senior living facility for trick-or-treating. Halfway through Olivia walked past me and said "well, there are about two things I can eat in my bucket." And then she sighed, shrugged, and walked away to gather more candy she can't eat.

And that my friends is what Halloween usually looks like for kids with food allergies. Great costumes and a bucket full of crap they can't eat.

Example A: Our safe and unsafe bowls -

As you can see "unsafe" beats out "safe" each year. (And while those Utz pretzels ARE peanut and tree nut free, they're processed in a facility with sesame seeds so they're off limits for Olivia).

I'll be repeating this whole safe and unsafe sorting again tomorrow night. And then I'll be sending most of the candy with my husband when he leaves for work on Monday so I'm not tempted to eat any of the chocolate. ;)

Olivia knows that Halloween is a tough holiday for her and while she loves dressing up I think she's about over the whole trick-or-treat aspect. What's the point when all you end up with is a bowl full of Skittles? I mean they're great and all but a girl can only eat so many Skittles.

I encourage you to get a teal pumpkin and support kids with food allergies this Halloween. Find some non-food treats (stickers, spider rings, bouncy balls) and give those kids a choice when they come to your house.

Believe me the kids with food allergies (and their parents) WILL appreciate it.

Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday - Ice Cream

Finding safe ice cream for Olivia isn't always easy. But last year in the Outer Banks we found Scammell's Corner - an ice cream store and surf shop that has SAFE ice cream! It's our go-to spot in Nags Head for ice cream. This year we visited 4 or 5 times. And the best part - other than the nut-free CASE OF ICE CREAM - is that they sing to you as they scoop your sweet treat.

Wordless Wednesday - A Cupcake

This is one happy girl! A peanut and tree-nut free cupcake for dessert at Be Our Guest at the Magic Kingdom! When you aren't able to eat dessert at most restaurants it's a pretty BIG DEAL when you find a safe option. And the fact that it's a chocolate cupcake makes it that much better!

I Scream. You Scream. We All Don't Scream for Ice Cream.

I love ice cream.

Like seriously LOVE it. I could eat ice cream every night - but I don't because I'm trying to lose weight.

Olivia also LOVES ice cream, but it's a sticky and slippery slope when it comes to finding a safe place for her to enjoy her second favorite dessert (chocolate mousse is her first favorite).

Here in Toledo we used to visit a spot called Mr. Freeze - it's a seasonal place, serving soft serve cones and sundaes from March through October. We don't go there anymore because they have a rather prominent sign at the counter that basically says "if you have a peanut or tree nut allergy we don't think it's a good idea for you to eat here."

Another soft serve spot - Melo-Creme - has been better, in that we've visited there once and they wore food service gloves and took out about 10 cones to find a "safe" (read: no cross contact here!) cone for Olivia.

Currently our go-to spot is a little place up in Mayberry (in Sylvania). It's a coffee shop-slash-ice cream shop and for the most part they're good (not great) when it comes to Olivia's allergies.

Their soft serve ice cream is safe and they'll usually open a new box of sprinkles for her. But a kid can only eat so much vanilla soft serve with rainbow sprinkles before it gets really boring!

So the other day Olivia want to change it up a bit - she wanted something different. Which, when you have peanut and tree nut allergies, isn't always easy. Especially when it comes to ice cream. She wanted hot fudge on her vanilla soft serve.

That was a no-go. The hot fudge was processed in a facility that also processes peanut and tree nuts. So, I asked if they had any Hershey's chocolate syrup (since that's a safe option). Nope. No chocolate syrup. The somewhat clueless teenagers behind the counter looked at the different varieties of scoop ice cream and said "we can open a new container of one of these for her."

Um, thanks for the idea but look at the ingredients - 95 percent of the ice cream there has nuts or tree nuts as an ingredient.

Olivia, knowing the ice cream battle was lost, said "I'll just have what I always get." And then she proceeded to eat about 10 bites and threw out the rest.

Ice cream -1, Olivia - 0.

It's very frustrating for Olivia - she used to love to go out for ice cream. Now when we suggest it she rarely wants to go.

Like I said, you can only eat so much vanilla soft serve with sprinkles before it gets really OLD. 

We used to have a Cold Stone Creamery right down the road and we could go in there and they'd know Olivia (it's the peanut allergy girl!) and whoever was working would go to the back, open a brand new cotton candy ice cream, get a clean bowl and scoop, and mix in chocolate shavings and sprinkles for Olivia. Sadly the store closed last year. :( 

I think our favorite ice cream shop is Scammell's Corner Surf Shop and Ice Cream Parlor in Nags Head, North Carolina (in the Outer Banks). Not only does the owner sing as he scoops ice cream but he has ALL THE PEANUT AND TREE NUT FREE ICE CREAM in ONE cooler! It's totally separate from the other ice cream flavors. Pure genius. And, he always uses a clean scoop to scoop out the ice cream. AND he has Hershey's syrup and hot fudge for the ice cream.

I'm not ashamed to say we visited there about four times on our most recent OBX vacation. Also, we totally need a Toledo-based Scammell's. I'm just sayin'.

I wish I could open a totally peanut- and tree nut-free ice cream parlor where we could serve all nut-free and peanut-free ice cream with safe toppings. It could be connected to my nut-free and peanut-free bakery and restaurant.

Safe ice cream and cookies and cakes for everyone!