Something near and dear to my heart... Food Allergy Awareness Month

So, this past week was National Food Allergy Awareness Week, and May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.  My daughter suffers from food allergies to both peanuts and shellfish.  Not only does she need to avoid these foods, but many other foods due to cross-contamination.

This makes having a "normal" life more difficult for both her, and our whole family.  Her life is literally at risk every time she boards an airplane because others on her flight or previous flights may have brought peanut-containing snacks on board, and peanut particles may be spread throughout the cabin due to re-circulation of the air.  She can't safely go to seafood or Asian restaurants, with a few select exceptions, and bakeries are almost all verboten, due to cross-contamination issues.

She also doesn't get invited to parties.  Folks don't want to be hurtful, I'm sure, but they are either at a loss as to how to provide for the food-allergic child at the party, or are afraid that there will be a reaction and they won't know what to do.  These are legitimate concerns, but with a little education, there is no reason to avoid inviting a food-allergic child to your celebration.

As older parents, most of us never encountered another child with severe food allergies as children.  The truth of the matter is, though, that one of every thirteen children in the U.S. has a diagnosed food allergy (1), and it is likely that we will have to face the prospect of inviting a child with a severe food allergy to a gathering at some point.

I recently came across an article on another parenting blog, and would like to share it with you.  The article is "Food Allergies at a Birthday Party - Part 1."  The blog is called Pebbles and Pigtails, and the blogger, Lisa Jorgensen, reprinted this article written by the CEO and Founder of Allergy Eats, Paul Antico.  Whether or not your child has food allergies, you may find the suggestions in the article useful for planning your child's next event (or for reassuring other parents hosting parties your child would like to attend).

For more information on food allergies and food-allergy friendly restaurants, please check out these websites/articles:

AllergyEats.com
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE/FAAN)
"5 Must-Read Myths About Food Allergies," Eat + Run Blog, U.S. News & World Report
Kids With Food Allergies
Diseases and Conditions: Food Allergy - Symptoms, Mayo Clinic
Recipes: Food Allergy Mama (Another blog worth checking out!)

References

1. Webpage, "About Food Allergies." url: http://www.foodallergy.org/about-food-allergies.  Accessed May 18, 2014.

Let's experiment...

If you've read my entry entitled "Are You Their Grandmother?" or viewed my profile, you've already noted that I'm pretty gray on top.  Well, recently I've become unemployed, and, since first impressions count, I've gone ahead and dyed my hair so I won't look so old during interviews.  I don't like it, but almost every other woman I know that is my age has her hair colored, I'm just leveling the playing field.

It occurred to me, however, that this also presents an opportunity.  I used to be asked about being their grandmother every couple of months or so, on average, almost, but not always, by folks in the under 30 age bracket.  Shall we see if I continue to get asked that now that my hair has been made younger looking?

This experiment is totally unscientific, and should be treated as such.  However, I'll do my best to track this over the next six months and we'll see how it goes.

Just so you know, I've already had one person express surprise this morning when I said the boys were mine.  No, not at the Mother's Day breakfast at their daycare.  I was wearing a photo pin of the boys to my needlework club, and a lady and I were comparing notes about preschoolers.  She's a grandma herself, and watches her preschool-age grandson after school.

So, two weeks into the younger-looking me, tally up one incident for the 50+ age group.

Check out my next blog for an update!

The toll on the body...

Let's not lie to ourselves. We're "older parents" and our bodies are no longer in prime condition for raising youngsters. I don't care what your BMI is - age is taking its toll, and I am willing to bet money you are feeling it.

This is, of course, more true the older you are when you become that older parent. With my first, I was 35 and did not appear to suffer any ill effects due to my age, other than developing a chronic pain in one knee from kneeling down on the bathroom floor without proper cushioning while bathing her. That can happen to anyone, but as I have always been one who doesn't mind getting down on the floor with kids and animals, it was a bit of a surprise.

Fast forward nine years. I'm 44 and have just given birth to twin boys. "But Heather," you say,"twins alone, are going to take more of a toll on you." True. Yet, I can see the signs of aging at work clearly. That knee? While better, it still wants to freeze up on me every so often. I'm nowhere near as limber as I was before, either. But there is more.

At 49, I now wear bifocals instead of normal glasses. Frustrating, especially when you have a preschooler trying to show you his latest artwork (they always want to put the paper right up to your nose - why is that?). My eyes are drying, a natural result of aging, and I now need to use artificial tears multiple times a day. I have a couple of friends developing arthritis, and I'm noticing that one of my fingers, too, hurts regularly at the joint. Bruising is happening easier and lasting longer, something I've previously noticed with older friends of mine. I'm rapidly approaching menopause, which is causing my hormones to fluctuate as badly as those of my 14-year old daughter, and also affecting my sleep patterns.

Is this affecting how I raise my children?

Let's start with those eyes. It's not just a matter of having Bobby stick his latest masterpiece right in my face. It's being able to quickly change my field of vision from the story I'm reading to Bobby to the view of Carl attempting to climb a bookcase across the room. It's also discerning the fine detail on the screen of Grace's handheld game system when she wants to show me how a scene is playing out. I find myself wanting to grab the game system out of her hands to get a closer view. For the dry eyes, I go into hiding to apply the drops - I have developed a healthy fear that one of the boys will pounce from behind and I'll take an eyedropper in the cornea.

The hand pain? Could be a hairline fracture in my finger bone(s) due to rough treatment since the boys were old enough to grasp and twist. I can't tell you how many times I've had individual fingers yanked at funny angles. I've also pounded my fist on the kitchen table a few times as if it was a gavel, trying to get the attention of the brood. Still, I've noticed that it isn't just my right (dominant) hand that hurts. All my fingers are feeling it in the joints, if only just a touch. My feet, too, on occasion. Amazingly, that knee is not suffering. I think it just likes to act up randomly to remind me I'm not a 20-something any more. I am much less likely to get on the floor and play with the boys than I was with Grace, which disappoints them to no end.

Bruises? Well, let's just say that with two very active little boys, you are going to get bruised - a lot. Age is only a factor in that a bruise that used to last a week or so now last a month, and tends to get larger than before. At any given time, I'm sporting at least four bruises on my body. More if I've been roughhousing with them.

I won't even go into how the whole hormone thing influences my interactions with my children. That subject deserves a whole blog entry of its own.

How do you see age affecting your parenting?  Or is it not?