At the Park

Today we decided to go for a walk since we have a break from the cold and rain for a little bit of sun shine.  After leaving the house my son says he wants to go to the park. I tell him that I just want to go on a walk but we will see. As we get closer to the park we decide that we will just let them stop and play for a little bit. We walk through a big field of grass to get to the park and as we walk up and see all the other children, I reach into my pocket finding the only two things I thought we would need. My phone and an inhaler. If I had known we would go to the park I would have grabbed his Epipen. 

My son playing at the park.

I am a little nervous and debating on walking all the way back but I decided that I would just leave if I felt he was threatened. 

My kids usually play on the younger children play set while the older kids (5-7 year old's) play on the bigger one. My son of course likes to venture over to the "big kid's" play set and on the occasion we will let him. But, today when he went over there I noticed a group of teenage girls eating ice cream at the top. I told him he could not go up there because there are big kids up there. He was sad but went on. 

Over on the other side of the park he joins his sister again. I decide I would like to sit down for a bit. This is what I see:

On the left is a soda bottle with a chocolate bar wrapper under it.
This is what was on the right:

Peanut butter cup wrappers. Can you imagine? A parent looks away for one second and their child wants to sit down to take a break or just gets curious. In those few seconds that right there could kill them. I know that may sound far fetched but in reality it is not. That would be at LEAST two of my son's allergens. And to think that this day I forgot the Epipen. But, I did notice and kept my kids far away, although it scared me that they were now playing on the same equipment that whoever ate those may have been playing on as well, spreading the allergen all over the place. A lot of allergy parents will just forfeit going to the park all together. But, my son has not had any bad reactions from going yet and I want to try to let him have as much of a normal childhood as I can give him.

Whew, venting sure does feel nice! And feedback in comments would be AMAZING! I just want to know that I am not speaking into space now and again. <3