The 100 Days heart attack
Somewhere along the line, the 100th Day of School became an “event” right up there with Halloween and Valentine’s Day. OK, maybe it’s not on par with Halloween because there are no cool costumes, but it might well surpass Valentine’s Day and all that icky, girly pink.
Any “event” at school, of course, requires a note to parents asking for donations for the festivities.
The note last week about the 100th Day “event” caused me at least that many heart attacks. Needless heart attacks, it turned out, but I really need to keep a defibrillator on hand for the next time it happens.
To celebrate the 100th day, all first-grade classes at Big Guy’s school will make Fruit Loop necklaces. It’s a cereal I avoid like the plague because of its sugar and dye content, but one little necklace won’t kill him.
One little peanut could, and that’s why I freaked out when I read the part asking parents to donate candy so the kids can use them for math problems. “M&Ms, Smarties, Skittles, Runts …”
My eyes didn’t see past M&Ms at first, because there is no such thing as a safe M&M for the peanut allergic. Even the plain ones carry contamination warnings. Extending the candy logic, I could see Reese’s Pieces coming into play, too. Because he’s contact allergic, Big Guy wouldn’t even have to eat those to have a reaction.
Which meant I had a quick reaction. Can you clarify, no M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces, I asked his teacher.
It’s already taken care of, she said.
The first-grade teachers agreed to let Big Guy’s class go through the project room first, while it’s still peanut-free. Only later classes will use the M&Ms.
Whew.
I was pretty sure I could trust Big Guy’s teacher to have his back – the woman who called me from Target as she spent her own money on food for Christmas craft projects back before Thanksgiving wasn’t likely to goof up on something like this.
In the case of food allergies, though, “trust but verify” is the best policy.
Copyright 2010 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.
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I remember my daughter’s 100th day of school–chocolate chips were the culprit for us. Everyone brought unsafe Nestle brand so they just skipped the chips. It does get easier but the first year is heart-attack inducing, indeed!
In the end, Goldfish got us. Big Guy’s also allergic to garlic, and regular Goldfish might or might not have it. The labeling’s so vague that you can’t tell and it’s never been important enough to me to pursue with the company because the Parmesan ones clearly are garlic-free.
On the 100th Day, though, Big Guy entered the project room to find a big bucket of the regular ones that had slipped in because there was a substitute teacher. He told the sub, and she took them out. There probably wasn’t any need to, because he’s not contact allergic to garlic, but I was pleased that 1. he knew he couldn’t have it and reported that to the teacher and 2. that she acted so quickly.
I completely understand the chocolate chip heart attack! That was in issue when Big Guy was in preschool. It’s sooooooo hard sometimes for parents of non-allergic children to think of all the things that are second-nature to us.
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