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Quick Guide to Talk About Food Allergies
My family recently moved into a new neighborhood. We’ve loved meeting new neighbors and watching our kids make new friends. However, the topic of my kids’ severe food allergies came up much faster than I was expecting. We were out in our driveway, playing with some sidewalk chalk, when our neighbor’s daughter saw us. She…
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How To Do Playdates With Food Allergies
Have you ever seen that parenting meme that goes, “Currently approving my kid’s friends based on which parents I think will drink coffee with me on playdates”? Pre-kids, I used to sip my coffee, scroll through my morning Facebook feed, and chuckle to myself whenever I saw that meme. Little did I know, I was…
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When Your Grief is Tied to Family
It is very normal to feel grief after you receive a food allergy diagnosis for a child. Grief can hurt profoundly, from the inside out. It develops in different ways and moves at different speeds. It can embrace you gently, like a long lost friend arriving for a surprise visit. Or it can show up…
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Our 5 Family Food Allergy Rules
These are the 5 rules our food allergy family follows to teach our kiddos how to navigate life with food allergies and stay safe. 1. We Never Eat Our Allergens This is rule number one and although this seems so obvious, it’s far from just that simple. Kids are well, kids. Food allergies are a…
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Food Allergies and Birthday Parties
Well, it finally happened. When my daughter was almost 3, she received a brightly colored envelope in the mail. To her excitement, (and my dread) it was an adorable princess themed birthday party invitation. I’ll never forget my daughter’s eyes lighting up and her jumping for joy around our living room, chatting enthusiastically the entire…
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5 Items for Your Food Allergy Go Bag
Vomit was everywhere. It was covering the counters, splattered on the floor, and pooled in the sink. Five year old me (Katie) and my little brother were sitting on our bathroom shower mat. We bawled as we each took turns throwing up while my parents frantically tried to figure out where to even begin with…
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Food Labels And Food Allergies
I distinctly remember the first time I shopped for groceries after my son’s food allergy diagnosis. For the first time in my life, at age 30, I started reading food labels. Labels for bread, cheese, ranch dressing, crushed tomatoes, vanilla extract, cereal, everything. You name it, I’ve read the label. I have had two responses…
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50 Non-Food Ideas for Easter Baskets
Wondering how to make an awesome Easter basket for your kiddo with food allergies? Or maybe you would like a little less sugar this year. Either way, let the fun begin! Here are 50 non-food ideas for this year’s Easter basket, organized for you by category. Because I’m Type A and I can’t help myself.…
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Setting Boundaries with Difficult People
“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.” – Brené Brown If you are anything like me, the word “boundaries” might sound unkind and inflexible. Or maybe they just sound like a lot of work. I used to feel that way too. However, I now…
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4 Ways to Kick the Food Allergy Mom Guilt
Did I eat enough peanut butter when I was pregnant? How many pb&j sandwiches did I eat? On the other hand, did I actually eat too much peanut butter? Should I have eaten a lot more organic food? Did it happen because I ate at McDonalds those few times? Is it because I vaccinated her? Did I not…
Food Allergy Mom
Support from two moms who’ve been there