Betsy DeVos, Disability Law, and the Time I Applied to Florida's Model Voucher Program for My Food Allergy Kid

Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

Hi, again.

I was gone from the blog for all of 2016 while dealing with the messiness that real life sent my way. My husband tested that bit about "in sickness and in health" with over half a dozen surgical procedures. Meanwhile, my son has hit both middle school and puberty, and...wowza. If your kids are still little, all I can say is brace yourselves.

I'm back, though, because those of us with food allergy children are facing some alarming changes in the way that established disability laws are going to be administered by the Department of Education.

Back to School Lunches!

The Kid has just started middle school (gulp), and we've had all the bobbles and glitches you might expect when taking such a huge step. One thing that hasn't changed is that I'm still packing a daily lunchbox. Here's three lunches from the first couple weeks of school.

Education Isn't a Special Right

One of the biggest worries for parents of food allergic children is preventing a potentially life threatening reaction at school. Sometimes the steps a school takes to create a safe environment for our kids lead to controversy, especially peanut bans.

Recently a blogger wrote an inflammatory post titled "12 Reasons Why Peanut Free Schools Are Not Okay." (I'm not going to link to anyone who argues that accommodating the "special needs" of another child "sends a terrible message to normal and healthy children." Google it if you must.) It was widely shared on Facebook and the comments responding to it resembled a pro wrestling match refereed by Jerry Springer.

This type of outrage bait pops up pretty regularly, and the writers always use the same tired set of food allergy tropes. In the hope of spreading more light and less heat, here is my own list in response. Please feel free to use it the next time you're fighting the urge to chuck a virtual chair at someone's head.

Pizza Lunchbox For Food Allergy Awareness Week

The only day of the week that my son wishes he could eat the school cafeteria lunch is Friday, or as it's better known, Pizza Day. Since this is the one school meal he asks me to match, I usually keep a stash of little home made pizzas in the freezer. I've tried a couple different ways to make and freeze mini pizzas and calzones, but a small veggie pie seems to be the winner.

Peanut Allergy Moms Needed to Take Survey!

I received a request for help finding participants for a peanut allergy study from Adrienne Cotaya, a masters of nursing student at Southeastern Louisiana University. She needs mothers of kids with peanut allergies to fill out a 9 question survey. Ladies, can we help her out?

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/peanutallergystudy