Peanut Allergy News: Joel Stein Has to Eat His Nutty Words

I just discovered this piece of news from Food Allergy Mama, Kelly, and her recent post on Facebook. Remember Joel Stein, author of the truly vicious OpEd in the LA Times? Thanks to many kind readers, here is the link. (I had tried it a couple of days ago and it was broken.)

The gist of the Stein OpEd is that it lambasted parents of kids with nut allergies by calling into question not only the parents' rationality and intellect, but the reality of nut allergies in the first place. According to Mr. Stein, nut allergies are an invention of "rich, white, Yuppies" who want to "feel special."

Oh, dear. Mr. Stein is now going to have to eat his nutty words, preferably without any jelly to make it all go down easier. Because the August 9 version of Time Magazine has an article by Mr. Stein stating, that, wait for it...his 1-year-old son has nut allergies. Yes, you read that right. I guess truth is stranger than fiction.

At the time he wrote his '09 OpEd LA Times article, Joel Stein had zero tolerance for parents dealing with the often scary reality of a life-threatening food allergy. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten my hands on his current article yet because the Time website won't let you read more than a paragraph. I've got to buy the mag, inadvertently contributing to Mr. Stein's earnings. I have a feeling he can use the extra money. Maybe for a membership to FAAN? Or for expensive medication and allergist visits? Or for allergy-friendly foods (which tend to cost more)?

I am saddened for anyone who learns that their child has a life-threatening nut allergy, don't get me wrong. I hope that child stays safe and healthy. Hey, I know of a great blog about nut allergies that might be able to help.....

Unfortunately for Mr. Stein, the reality of nut allergies is not going to reveal itself to him overnight, allowing him to quickly dismiss his previous beliefs and move on. Over the next months and even years, he'll have to cope with many issues he may have never even considered when he wrote his damaging OpEd.

However, when he's ready to find our community, we'll be here with our tips, advice and support because we've already been where he is now, that is, sitting up at 3 in the morning worrying about our child. It all gets easier, Joel. Especially if you keep an open mind.

Food Allergy-Friendly Baking! The Divvies Bakery Cookbook

I was thrilled to receive my copy of the recently-released Divvies Bakery Cookbook. For those of you who haven't yet heard of Divvies, this is a wonderful resource for people allergic to nuts, eggs and dairy. The website offers cookies, candies, cupcakes and even chocolate completely free of nuts, eggs and dairy. And the best part--they are delicious!

I've mentioned Divvies several times to my readers as a resource for nut-free candies, cake decorations and much more. I'm happy to say that the Divvies Bakery Cookbook provides a wonderful resource to anyone who wants to bake free of nut, eggs or dairy. Get your sweet tooth ready because you're going to need it! I really love this book and can't wait to dig into some of these treats!

Written by Divvies founder Lori Sandler with all the insights of a mother who has spent some serious time in the food allergy trenches, the cookbook is filled with treats for family gatherings, birthday parties and snacks. You'll even find recipes for kid-friendly drinks, applesauce and more! Notes from Lori's son, Benjamin, offer a personal touch. Along the way, Lori shares some of her food-allergy survival tips and tricks as well as plenty of baking advice.

You can buy The Divvies Bakery Cookbook directly from the Divvies website as well as Amazon.com and your favorite online book retailers. Thanks to Lori for her devotion to providing wonderful treats to food-allergic kids!

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary book but no other compensation for this review.

Food Allergies Can't Keep a Good Girl Down

My oldest daughter will be 10 years old tomorrow (omg...that's the double digits as she likes to say) and it's given me time to reflect about our journey with nut allergies up till now.

I know that I've discussed our big and small triumphs here in the past (most recently with my post "Thriving with a Nut Allergy"). However, something about this "double digit" birthday makes me really grateful for how far we've come since our family first learned of Alex's life-threatening allergy to nuts.

A lot of you are reading this blog because you've recently discovered your own child's allergy. I find out when my child was 4 years old and I know that many of you learned sooner. When you first get this diagnosis, it's so scary and can seem really disheartening once you realize how much it affects daily life. I still have my good days and bad days.

However, as my daughter reaches her 10th birthday, I'm very proud of how much she's been able to do and how confident she has become about handling her allergy issues.

For those of you new to this, here is some of my advice, some of it learned the hard way. :)

- Never let your child feel like they can't do something just because of their allergy. In fact, we've sometimes given our daughter a gentle nudge out into the world to prove that she can handle certain situations. Now that she's older, she initiates independence. That's really important to us since she is the one who will be caring for her allergy in the future.

- Be cautious, but keep things as normal as possible. Caution is key but so is a normal childhood in terms of things like birthday parties, camp and extracurricular activities. If you take all the proper precautions things will generally go well. Volunteering to help out at these activities when your kids are younger will help both of you feel more secure. Most important, don't focus too much on your child being the "allergy kid" beyond making certain an activity is safe for them.

- On the other hand, don't beat yourself up for the things you can't do. Trying every new restaurant is just not on our family agenda; likewise, sleepovers are off-limits except for very close friends of the family who we trust. Some things just aren't worth it and we stick to firm rules about them. Instead of focusing on what we can't do safely, we celebrate the things that we can.

- Realize that as your child gets older, your role as a parent must adapt to their growing independence. My daughter often reminds me these days that she knows what to do about her allergy and not too hover over her too much. In fact, there have been several situations where she exercised caution all on her own. She's still too young to be completely free of parental involvement, but I try to show her that I trust her to handle things when appropriate. It's been a real confidence-booster for her as well as a lesson in taking charge of her own allergy.

Now the flip side: Vigilance around high-risk foods can never let up. Until there is a cure for nut allergies, the risk of reaction must never be discounted. Sometimes we let our guard down if we've gone a long time without a reaction. This is a mistake--you can never plan when a reaction will occur. Stay vigilant with regard to foods and situations and keep teaching your child to stay vigilant while still encouraging their independence.

Just so everyone knows, I'm hosting next week's "Living with Food Allergies Blog Carnival" so if you're an allergy blogger, please submit an article. I need them in by March 3rd (next Wednesday). Thanks!