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Snack Day!

Today is Benjamin’s snack day at school.

When you’re five years old, snack day is very, very exciting. Ben has been talking about his snack day all week, and when he was sick and home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday, he was more than a little concerned that his fever would threaten his turn to bring in snack.

Luckily, he’s back to being healthy. There was much discussion that went into this snack. Two children in Ben’s class have allergies: eggs, diary and nuts. Ben sat beside one of the children at the beginning of the school year. Each day when he came home, after telling me whose snack day it was, and what they brought in, Ben would let me know whether or not his seatmate was able to have the snack. Most days, the snack wasn’t safe for his friend, so an alternate treat was given. Ben wanted to know why. I explained to him about food allergies.

Food allergies are something that I know a little bit about. Growing-up, I was diagnosed as being severely allergic to shellfish after several reactions ranging from a rash and itchy mouth to anaphylactic shock. At the time, doctors predicated that my allergy was so severe that they wouldn't even test me for it. The treatment was to stay away from everything with a shell. No problem right? Well, every once in awhile, I would still react to something in my non-shellfish food. Hmmm. About two years ago, I bit the shrimp-bullet, so to speak, and got tested. Turns out, I’m not allergic to shellfish after all. Had I grown out of it? More than likely, I was misdiagnosed. What am I allergic to? No idea.

Needless to say, food allergies are a pain in the tush, and thankfully, neither of the boys have them. Being able to eat whatever he wants, Ben was sensitive to his classmates who couldn’t. I was impressed with and (shameless brag here) proud of his empathy towards his friends. As his snack day approached, Ben reminded me over and over and over that his snack could not have dairy, eggs or nuts. Over and over and over. And over again.

In the end, I sent in Rice Krispy squares made with margarine instead of butter. And grapes too. And after assuring Ben that no, margarine most definitely did not have any dairy in it,  my oldest went off to school this morning proud of his allergy-free, everyone-friendly snack.

The next time that Ben is being mean to his brother, or giving me attitude (seriously, how do five years old know how to give attitude?!) I’m going to reread this blog to remind myself how kind he can be.

Any fun suggestions for allergy-free snacks? Share them. Snack day comes up once a month in Ben’s class, so I need some ideas for next time.

xo Naomi

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