Parental Pet Peeves

I've developed some parental pet peeves that have stemmed from a general lack of civility when these savages take their kids out in public as though it were their world to have.

I loathe parents that:
-let their sick kid cough all over the books and toys at the dr.'s office and run around, touching everything; that's just poor, thoughtless parenting
-don't tell their kids to cover their cough/sneeze
-look at their kids licking the handle on the grocery cart and don't say ANYTHING!
-put only a sweatshirt, no mittens, no shoes on their baby when they're out in 30 degree weather
-don't wipe the snot running from their kid's nose all the way to their top lip, yuck!
-ignore their screaming kid in the grocery cart who's begging to be held
-let their kids sneeze in their hands, then open up and grab all the candy in the clear plastic bins that they can hold in their grubby little hands, take a lick even sometimes!, then put it all back and move on to the next one
-need a leash to keep their kids out of grocery cart traffic in the narrow, busy aisles...if your kids gonna just stand there while 2 and three carts line up while waiting for the kid to finally move, then don't bring them during busy store hours, it's that easy!!

Takes One to Know One

Ever get the feeling that whatever words are coming out of your mouth have recently become "white noise" for the listener? People w/out allergies don't act totally annoyed when I mention it off handedly, they just tune me out, turn me off. No, it's not all I talk about and yes, nut allergies do exist outside of my imagination. Nobody really wants to talk about them unless they have 'em. And its seems that no matter how common food allergies in general have become, they're not common enough to keep my friends that don't have them as friends still. I remember an old friend that finally had her first baby who had some mild GERD. Even though this friend was pretty aware that my Pumpkin's GERD was so severe, she required a feeding tube for months and surgery, etc., all this friend could think of when her baby was prescribed Zantac was...'oh yeah, I think leah mentioned something about this...'. Ummm, hello? Were you even listening? It's kind of a big deal when you spend weeks in the hospital with a new baby. Does anyone listen any more or give a crap about stuff outside of their little world? I mean, really give a crap? I'm almost scared to ever bring up these things that are such a big part of my life for fear that I might lose another friend. Now, I rarely talk about them anymore, and feel almost bad for bringing them up b/c I know it doesn't directly involve the other person...um, rediculous, but true. When did we become an "all about me" America? Even parents who tote their babies & young children around at Target around 9/10 o'clock at night, same deal...yeah, this may be a good time in your schedule to do some shopping, but your kids belong in bed!! Hello?!

Recently, I've rediscovered the joy of new friendships w/ old friends I've held at arms length for one reason or another. We're more similar than I first recognized, which may've been why we didn't quite 'click' before. It's really a breath of fresh air and support, and I'm glad for the revisited friendships that were almost never were, but I wonder if the friendships I used to value were ever really friendships at all...why didn't I see this before?

Flying Solo for Thanksgiving

Well, it's mano a turkey breast for our familia this Thanksgiving...God help us all. I can bake frozen pizza (which comes out marginal at times, depending on when I remember to set the timer) and boil Sponge Bob macaroni on occasion, but raw frozen poultry? It's like asking my 3 year old to conjugate verbs in subjunctive form. I'll probably bake it to hell in order to avoid avian flu transmission, which will then require a full beverage to complete the actual ingestion process b/c it'll be too stinking dry. Bah. Well, there's always the Tombstone...I bought an extra this week just in case!

For the last 26 years, I've attended my grandparent's house for Thanksgiving, but upon discovering Pumpkin's nut allergy this past summer, I asked if they'd be willing to go nut-free this holiday so that we could attend. Unfortunately, that means not just no nuts, but also nothing that has been cross-contaminated w/ nuts...for everyone b/c she can go into anaphylactic shock if someone eats freshly baked rolls or cookies or chocolate or holiday pie, and then touches her, even though the food doesn't directly contain nuts and Pumpkin wasn't the one eating them. The restrictions are crazy, and there's no shot or cure for it, just "strict avoidance." Grandpa said they like their pumpkin pie (more than my Pumpkin, apparently) and hoped they'd see me at Christmas...as though it was my choice! Tough call...my child's life or dessert? Hmmm.... he then continued saying "You know what I think? I think this whole 'allergy thing' is a bit overdone." Then daylight began to glimmer. I reminded him that my dad (his son) has a severe allergy to penicillin. He was there when my dad almost died from taking it once and I asked him: what if his severe allergy wasn't to penecillin, but to nuts and anything that may have come in contact with it, including other foods or even people; what if my dad could die if any of that simply touched him? Well, that kept a lid on it, but it didn't solve much. He's not willing to give up his nuts so we can't visit them, and we live more than an hour away -a distance too far for either of them to drive. I'm asking the masses: any suggestions?

Whole Foods Fiasco!

I went to Organic Heaven...er, Whole Foods, today to purchase some fresh produce and noticed their potatos and yams are perched atop open, mesh bags of varieties of nuts! NUTS!!! I looked down and noticed remnants of the nutshells amidst onion peel and broccoli florets before I drew the line. Big cross contamination no-no. After paying for nut free snack bars (only 2 of the entire 3 that store carries), I bumped into the food allergist specialist there, Bonnie, who goes around with all the customers that have special food needs and shows them which items in the store are labeled without that allergen. I'd met her at a previous shopping visit there. Well, she asked how things were going, and I mentioned the bit about the nuts (that could easily kill my child), and she hurriedly took me over to produce and asked the guys to bring out boxes of the produce I wanted from the back so I could pick some out that haven't been put in the front of the store! How sweet! I also mentioned that the Chicago Trib. wrote an article blasting Whole Foods on their lack of attention to detail when it comes to nut contamination in their store brands 365 Organic Everyday and Whole Kitchen. She said she'd read the article, but I told her another follow up one was published online just this morning. Then something happened...her head twitched, and she freaked out (as calmly as possible) by grilling me: what was it about, what did they find, who did they talk to...etc. etc. etc. I told her what I recalled, and that even though it did deterr me from buying their store brand, it wouldn't stop me from getting other things there.

Here's a link to the article...I think Sam Roe rocked it out today, kids.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-112308-allergens-whole-foods-nov23,0,241722.story

which is a follow up to their initial story published this past Friday:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-081120-allergens-tribune-investigation,0,506031.story

Both articles help explain why Pumpkin had allergic reactions to 3 out of the last 4 foods that I introduced to her that did not contain nuts in any of the ingredients labeled on the packaging...which is why my husband and I eat a rotation of Tombstone's supreme pizza and Kraft macaroni and cheese blue box...both safe for our dumpling b/c reactions can and do occur regardless of whether she herself eats nuts. If we eat anything with nuts in it and kiss her, she can have a reaction. If we touch nuts and then touch her, she can also have a reaction that leads to...death.

Advice for moms of toddlers!

Word to all mothers of young youngin's:
Fruit-snacks is another word for choking-hazard. No bueno. All teeth present does not equal all food chewed.

Do not administer any snacks of the like until the child can properly say the following consonants and consonant combinations with advanced success:
-"th" not 'I want fuh pony'
-"sh" not 'Can I have my pink sirt
'-"L" not 'fat dog is yehyo'
-"R" not 'I don't want fuh wed one, I want fuh gween one'