Parties, Treats, and Holidays

Valentine's Day. Love, roses, gourmet dinner and red dye no. 40. Yes, this is what I was thinking about in the days before Elijah's Valentine's Day party at school. Before the party, I emailed his teacher and asked what was going to be served at the party. The menu was red punch, red jello, skittles and twizzlers. My heart dropped...not a single thing that he could have. I was hoping there would be just one thing served that he could have. When I first started this, I looked up all of the ingredients of his classes approved snack list. His teacher has an approved list because of allergies, including Elijah's peanut allergy. While the snacks are typically low sugar, and "healthy" snacks like goldfish crackers and cereal, there was only one approved item on the list...baked tostitos.  His teacher and I agreed that I would send in his own snack from the approved list everyday...he's been eating a lot of baked tostitos. This is by far one of the hardest parts of this program...having to go against the norm. I am the type of person who likes to just go with the flow, not draw attention to myself and not cause trouble. Perhaps, that is why I am even trying this. It was hard for me to have a child that stood out for negative reasons. It's hard to tell someone, "My son is on a special diet and can't have ????, please only allow him to have what I provide." Or asking at a bakery, "Excuse me, can you please tell me what type of pan sprays you are using when you bake your bread?" I also don't want to seem ungrateful when others offer treats. I am still trying to find the best way of handling this. It is out of my comfort zone. Usually, I think that others think that I am either crazy or strict or both. So what did I do about Valentine's Day? First, I attached an "approved" organic lollipop to all of his valentines. The kind that had he received one last year, I would have thought, "This must have come from a hippie family!" I figured his teacher would be OK with him eating a sucker that was given to the other classmates. Then, I told him that I would exchange any unapproved candy for another non-food treat. So, he came home from school, he gladly gave me his small pile of candy and in return got a new Star Wars lunch box.Now, this may seem like a small pile of candy for the gift, but to a kid who had to refuse the treats at his school party, I think it is totally justified. I guess I better start saving up for the Halloween exchange!