Halloween for a child with food allergies can be scary, disappointing and stressful. If they're lucky, there's a safe option for them to choose when their neighbor opens the door and offers a bucket full of goodies. If they're really lucky, those safe options aren't mixed in a bowl full of other things that could have been cross-contaminated by a food they can't have. If they're even luckier than that, there will be a bowl of non food treats such as stickers or temporary tattoos.
One in thirteen children under the age of 18 will be experiencing this come October 31st. You may be saying to yourself, what's the big deal? The big deal is that the potentially deadly reaction, anaphylaxis, that those 1 in 13 kids can have sends someone to the emergency room every 3 minutes.
My daughter has serious allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. When you know your child has food allergies you have a feeling that there's a ticking time bomb everywhere you go, every holiday you have and every event that you attend where food is being served. The lingering fear that anaphylaxis (a severe, life threatening allergic reaction) can occur should your child ingest tiny amounts of nuts (or whatever their allergen may be) is always on your mind. You have eyes all around your head secretly watching what everyone is eating. You worry that the child with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in their hands at the playground is going to end up playing with your kid and the peanut butter on their hands will somehow make it into your kid's mouth. And of course the dreaded scenario that your kid takes a snack from someone who doesn't know and it ends up to be something with their allergen in it. The amount of fears surrounding your child's food allergies can be very surprising and unless you're in it, it's hard to understand it and how very serious it is. I get it.
Thankfully, people are becoming more and more aware of this situation. Friends and family of ours are beyond accommodating and you know who you are. You truly make us feel safe and loved every time you make sure that when you are hosting us, there's an option for Charlie, or better yet no nuts at all.
When I heard about FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) and the Teal Pumpkin Project I couldn't help but feel so relieved that there's actually an initiative out there to help make kids with food allergies feel included and safe on Halloween, a holiday that revolves so much around food they can't have. Basically, the project is this. You leave a teal pumpkin out to signify that your house is giving out non food (preferably) or food allergy safe options. This way trick or treaters with food allergies know that it is ok to trick or treat at your house. You can do your part to make those 1 in 13 kids feel safe and included on Halloween night. It's such a small gesture, but to the kids and the parents, it means so much more than that.
You can download a Teal Pumpkin Project sign courtesy of FARE and get more information at www.foodallergy.org
Jenn is a stay at home mom of two. She loves all things fashion, does a little makeup artistry on the side and enjoys spending her summers with her husband, daughters and family down at the Jersey Shore.
