I've dubbed yesterday Worry Wart Wednesday since both children decided to challenge my sanity and parenting skills with health related and scary issues. Nick had tummy trouble and Alexa had an allergy scare. Alexa's school is doing "home visits" as a part of their Family study. They visit the homes (apartments) of almost every child in the class. The first visit was yesterday. I was a bit concerned about not being there but a friend and mother with a peanut allergic child was attending so I felt she would be safe. I thought I had prepared well for it. The hosting mother and I spoke about what would be served. I provided her with a box of CherryBrook Kitchen cake mix for safe cupcakes and we discussed her plans to serve mini hot dogs in crescent rolls. The hot dogs have soy in them so I planned to pack a safe substitute. I also spoke with her teacher and informed her that Alexa could eat the "yellow" cupcakes and I would provide a option for the hot dogs. I baked some crescent rolls to pack in her backpack. I discussed the plan with Alexa, "yes, you can eat the yellow cupcakes and frosting, but NO you can NOT eat the hot dogs". Everyone was on the same page-or so I
thought! Bright and early yesterday morning, Nicholas woke up screaming in pain from a stomach ache. He's been having problems so we were quite worried something serious was wrong and I rushed him off to the ER. This meant Jason had to drop Alexa at school. In my worry and concern for Nicholas, I completely forgot about packing Alexa's lunch, the home visit, the crescent rolls and explaining it all to Jason. Luckily, Alexa remember and reminded him and he called my cellphone. I asked him to pack the crescent rolls in her backpack and told him her lunch was in the fridge and assumed all was well. Nicholas was thankfully okay. Just very constipated and in pain. We fixed him up and arrived home around 9:30 a.m. By 10:00 a.m. my focus shifted back to Alexa and I began to worry. Did her teacher know she should take her backpack with Epi Pens and snack in it?? Did the teacher and host remember she should not eat the hot dogs? My worry continued so I emailed and texted my friend reminding her of the backpack and asking her to please be sure Alexa did not eat the hot dogs. She did not get the messages. At 12:30 I received a call from her telling me Alexa had, in fact, eaten the hot dogs. My heart sank, but I knew that worst case scenario she would throw up and feel awful but be okay, for that I was grateful. We are fortunate soy is one of her lesser allergens. Then I started thinking, "Who was watching her at the table?" "Who put the hot dogs in front of her?" "What if the food had contained nuts?" We could have been faced with a very different and very dangerous outcome!! Amazingly, she didn't even get sick! However, the realization that the food could have made her sick (or caused anaphylactic shock) is frightening and stressful. I thought I had done my homework, covered my bases and prepped her-she should have been safe. The lesson I learned? You can
never been too prepared and sometimes accidents happen. I have tried so hard to ensure Alexa knows how to protect herself and stay safe. I was surprised she ate the food without asking first (she's well versed in this and always very cautious) but you can't trust a 5 year old when they are excited and involved in a group event. Our solution? I will attend all future home visits to ensure Alexa's safety. It will also remove stress and worry from the hosts and the teacher so they can focus on the 27 other kids in attendance. I'm relieved Worry Wart Wednesday is over and happy to move on to Thankful Thursday!! I can live without another day like yesterday!
