Monday, March 26, 2012

Struggling with the future

As I am trying to sleep last night, I am kept awake thinking about my sons future. I rarely think outside of the present with his allergies. I even go on forums and help other people with allergies, children, teens, adults and parents. I have done that for a long time. Well before I started blogging. But, I never thought about it being my son that felt so much like an outsider, worrying every second whether someone ate something hes allergic to for lunch and did not wash their hands. He will not get the same experience most get with their first kiss. He will be scared and thinking about whether he is putting himself in danger. Of course, my son is only 4 years old and I in no way want to even fathom that my son will one day be kissing girls but it is inevitable. As of now, I am the one worrying about him. In his eyes I am sure that the isolated person in our family is my husband because he eats "Cow's cheese" Everyone else in our family sticks to soy products while my husband uses dairy. I have taught my son that Cow's milk is yucky, eggs are yucky, peanuts are yucky and tree nuts are yucky. That is really the only way I could start teaching him that he should not eat those products and he can let people know. Now, I am starting to teach him that it will give him allergies. He knows when he is having an allergic reaction and he will even ask me for medicine at just an itchy eye. So, I have started to teach him that he will get allergies just like the characters in the books he loves to read. I think he is finally starting to get it and that is good but it is also a little sad.

Today we were at the post office where my daughter starts playing with the packing peanuts.(I DID try to get her to stop but I was packing envelopes and she was only playing with the scooper.)  He sees on the side of the bin that it says peanuts. (He must recognize the word from books because he cannot read.) He says Mommy, I'm allergic, those are yucky. I said "No bud, those are PACKING peanuts you are not allergic. He says "Peanuts are yucky, they give me allergies." So, I just shut up and decided not to try to tell him that he was not allergic to ALL peanuts. That is just plain stupid  to try to explain to a 4 year old and could result in confusion causing a reaction. Then we were waiting in line and my daughter sees a candy machine and goes to it. My son says "No! You're allergic!" I never let him touch candy machines because a lot of times there are reese's pieces. Even if they are not that peanut butter candy, you never know what is in those candies or if they have been cross contaminated in a candy that was there before. I tell him "No, she is not allergic. You are allergic but she is still not allowed to touch." So, I think that he is starting to understand more clearly what an allergy is and that not everyone has it. But, it still breaks my heart as his mother to watch him discovering these things.

1 comment:

  1. Sweetheart, just try to remember that he knows nothing else...this is all just a fact of life for him and he accepts it. Try not to be sad. Look at all the advances that have been made in foods, medicines, allergy therapy, etc. He's still young...

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