Thursday, January 22, 2009

Calling all Grandparents of Nut-Free Kids!

The other day, I was reading a magazine story about the increase in grandparents caring for grandchildren. Really, I don't need to read about this--I just need to look around me. While I wait for my kids every day after school, I'm joined by a good number of grandparents waiting to pick up the kids and take them home, where, I assume, they'll also be caring for them.

As the daughter of a single mom, my own grandparents had a big hand in raising me and my siblings. I have so many great memories of my childhood with them and I know they helped shape me in a positive way. I had the best grandmother in the world and I wish she were still with us. Plus, as parents, we truly appreciate your help with our kids.

I've gotten several e-mails and responses to my blog posts from grandparents, grandmothers especially, and I'd love to hear from you. It must be hard to cope with nut allergies or any other food allergies, after having raised your own children in a mostly non-allergic world. What's the hardest part for you? What's the easiest? What do you want to know about most?

If you prefer to e-mail me, just scroll down and click on the Contact Me link to the right of the blog. I'm looking forward to your stories!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Oh, I wish my mom and dad would reply to this post, but they really don't use email or communicate on the computer at all. My parents initially did not want to believe my son had a peanut allergy. Then, they thought maybe he had a mild peanut allergy. It was difficult for them to accept that he actually has a life threatening allergy; not because they didn't believe the seriousness of it but because they didn't want to believe he had something so serious.

Once everyone realized this is our new reality, my parents read all the peanut allergy books I bought, from cover to cover. They moved into a brand new home and never buy any peanuts, peanut butter or peanut containing foods so their home is somewhat like ours. They even try to buy the same brands and food products we have here at home, to keep him safe. My mom always has been one of those super-vigilant moms, so she's now a super vigilant grand-mom.

I am interested to see what kinds of responses you receive. We certainly have other distant older relatives who can't comprehend the seriousness of the allergy or the fact that he will likely have it for life. It would be incredibly stressful to have relatives nearby with that mindset. Thanks for looking into this important topic!