Coping with Food Allergies

For any parent who can throw a sandwich, a cookie, and an apple into a brown bag and call it lunch for your child, consider yourself lucky. Both my kids are allergic to dairy and eggs. My son is also allergic to wheat, peanuts, and fish. My daughter, while she hasn't been officially tested yet, appears to be allergic to walnuts in addition to the dairy and eggs.

When I was pregnant, I had visions of baking cookies with my kids during holidays, having them lick batter off the spatula, maybe stealing the odd-shaped cookies off the rack before packing the pretty ones in baggies to share with friends. When you have a child who is allergic to wheat, eggs, and dairy, that becomes a much harder vision to realize.

On the more serious side, these food allergies mean a quick trip to the grocery store is at least an hour long, as I read over every single food label. I have episodes of anxiety at the thought of my son starting school, where an innocent trade of his potato chips for a friend's Oreo cookie might mean a trip to the emergency room. When we go out to eat, it's always Asian food, so that he at least can have a bowl of rice if nothing else on the menu is edible for him.

It is exhausting to be so vigilant about every morsel they put in their mouth. And this manifestation of my love and concern for them goes unappreciated. You are nobody's favorite mommy when you have to tell your boy that he can't have a taste of birthday cake or ice cream at his best friend's party.

I know I am not alone out there. Google searches have revealed countless web sites, blogs, and chat rooms devoted to this topic. But it feels like being on an island sometimes, to have to carry this worry over something so basic as eating. I only hope that all the care I put into planning my kids' diet and meals will result in healthier kids down the road.

Still, what I would give just to be able to order a pizza for dinner after a long day's work for once.