Thoughts On
Cooking, Kitchen Gadgets, Recipes and More
Let’s start with the harsh reality: This pandemic is the worst. Reading stories of people suffering with and dying from COVID-19 is horrible. Thinking about the ramifications of going back to school this fall is terrible. Hearing stories from front-line healthcare is devastating.
Not seeing friends, not going to tee-ball practice, wearing masks in stores … It’s all awful.
Still, despite all the awful no-good terrible-ness … there have been a few positives to come out of this mess.
Something wasn’t right. And it wasn’t his fault. As parents, we’d gotten lazy about evening snacks. Almost nightly he was requesting (and getting) a little bowl of chocolate bunnies or crackers or peanut butter-filled pretzels. I was concerned about the habit …. this almost Pavlovian experience where he thinks that upon showering, he needs a snack — even if he’s not hungry.
I started thinking … How can we rein this in? How can we teach a 4-year-old that no, he doesn’t need a snack every night?
As an allergy parent, one of the things you worry about is how to teach your child about their allergies. How do you teach them what foods they can have and which they can’t? How do you teach them to ask questions and speak up for themselves? How do you teach them to be educated about food in general? And how do you do this when they’re not even 5 years old?
At this point, he was excited to help with the rest. He added spices to the cauliflower and helped to put them on a baking sheet. He also helped season the steaks. And he was eager to join me outside at the grill.
It was a wonderful night with him, but it was probably just a fluke, I thought. But then, his interest continued this weekend.
On Halloween night, my son had his first trick-or-treating experience. My husband and I hadn't mentioned it until it was clear he knew it was a thing — honestly, we weren't sure we really wanted him to participate. As a child with food allergies, there are very few candies he can have. Plus, we aren't wild about introducing him to more opportunities for sugar. But he was fully aware that people would give him candy if he just rang the doorbell and asked. I was trapped.
I love the holidays. Yes, I love Christmas and Thanksgiving. But I even love the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Holidays are an opportunity for fun and traditions. But I have a beef with holidays where junk food is a key component. (I’m looking at you, Valentine’s Day!) And Halloween falls into that category.
Mac and cheese. Pizza. Chicken tenders. String cheese. These are staples of childhood. And they are things my son can’t have. In fact, these foods could make him very sick — or worse.
His food allergies aren’t the end of the world, but they do make life harder — for us as parents trying to find foods he’ll eat, yes, but mostly for him. We remain hopeful that he’ll grow out of them, but we’re also keenly aware he might not. And if he doesn’t? Well, he’s going to need certain skills when he gets older.
