Talking Allergies

That is very interesting. I've never really thought about it that way... My husband & I AND our 6 year old daughter are all very involved in the care of our 3 year old son/brother. Our 6 year old non-allergic daughter stated that when she grows up, she is going to find a cure for allergies. She also recently told us that she wanted to make a presentation at her new school with 600 children about food allergies! Imagine that! Even our daughter is advocating for her little brother.

Just thought I'd bump this topic.

I know when I read about the drugs that are out there I feel good in knowing that my daughter is very aware of what she puts into her and I hope that she will be better able to avoid the peer pressure of drugs when she links it to concerns about cross contamination etc. (Hard to share drugs when you've been raised to not even share a water bottle)

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Great topic!
And yes, Susan, actually, my allergies have given me the perfect excuse to "just say no". If I was ever offered something, no one would try to convince me when I said no because they would not want to have to worry about bringing me to a hospital if something happened...

I also totally agree that if you look at the positive side of things, allergies causes us to lead much more healthier lives and we are conscious eaters as well. So many people are completely unaware of the chemicals and junk that is in their food and sometimes when I share information about packaged food with friends or family they are shocked and a tad repulsed. I think going back to basics by making most things, if not everything, from scratch will result is us having less illnesses in the long run while we wait for the cure for our allergies.

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Associate Editor at Allergic Living.
Allergies to all nuts and legumes except soy and green beans.

I think my children (who have no allergies) are more compassionate to others because they see what I have to deal with. They see how I can be treated by others or in a restaurant or on an airplane... good or bad. They also see how I handle it. I have heard my daughter double check with parents when she wanted to bring a snack to a child she was babysitting or my son out on our street playing with the other children tells them to check with their parents if they can have a snack with him and I hear him ask if they have allergies! They think this way even before school age.

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Me-Allergic to Peanut, Tree Nut, Coconut, Shellfish, ASA and Asthma
My Husband and Children No Allergies

Did anyone mention learning to delay gratification? How many 5-6 year olds can wait until we get home to have what everyone else is enjoying right now?

Ours will be the ones who save up before making major purchases and not living beyond their means.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Evelyne said,

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Once upon a time everything you needed to know, you learned in elementary school. Now, we live in a world of continuous learning.

Our children know first hand how to go after information, question everything and judge the reliability of the information being presented.

We are raising critical thinkers and that is going to take them very far!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Since the onset of her nut allergies at 12 my daughter has become an advocate for herself. She would not have spoken her mind easily before but she does now!

I concur that a huge benefit is realizing how many people care about her safety. Even my other daughter's team-mates parents make sure treats are safe

We read this forum together and she feels comforted knowing that there are others dealing with allergies. Check her list on my signature and she has plenty but she feels she has it easy compared to many - now that is a positive attitude

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

What an amazing topic! Thanks Susan!

I have to thank multiple life threatening allergies for showing me the world of home schooling and going back to the basics. DH modified his work life so that he could work from home (makes 'bubble living' easier) and the 2 of us will never regret not spending enough time with our children. We all are healthier as a family system because of what we learned from DS. It's neat that in all the 'planning/acting' we've had to do to keep 'death' away, we've ended up with a life warmer, richer and more nourishing than we could have imagined.

Thanks again for such a nice topic, Susan!

Bump

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Ugh, my cholesterol level went up just reading the article!
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/1008 ... wacky_food

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Susan - that sounds really gross! I'm glad we have the allergies here, i'm never going to hear, "mom, I want more deep fried butter!"

On a positive note, since changing our eating habits because of our daughters allergies, my blood pressure has gone WAY down.. in the "optimal" range apparently. YAY!

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Daughter 3.5 years) - Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts, Sesame, Beef; asthma and eczema
Daughter (2 years) - Peanuts Eczema
Son (7 months) - Contact allergy to something food undetermined

Here's another...

Daughter is started to learn the recorder in class yesterday. The teacher sent hers home last week with a note stating that she had sterilized it. Yeah thanks, I washed it very well.

Last evening my daughter told me that she was glad she had allergies because she got to take her recorder with her. The others placed theirs in a big bag the teacher has for storing them.
Eww, gross! Are we not in the middle of flu season?

I'd complain about this but I don't think it's my place. Maybe I'll mention it to another mom...

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

Gross!!! Yup, DD was right that in this case having allergies is a good thing.

Ew, ew ew.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

My guess would be that the kids don't even think about it and that parents wouldn't know they share recorders. When I told my 12 year old about Susan's daughter's school's method she said "That's disgusting!" .

At my kids' school, they paid $8 for their own recorder which has their name engraved on it plus a cotton bag with their name on it. The music teacher said that the ones usually bought at non-music stores do not have the same sound and make it more difficult for the students to play. They play the recorder for 2 1/2 school years so $8 seems very reasonable to me. Bonus to having their own is that they could take it home to practice (that was difficult to write as I do not enjoy the sound of the recorder...)

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental