The First Day of School- 2009!

The first day of school is an anxious one for any parent. The rush of emotions, glee, sadness, excitement, worry and pride. But for a child with food allergies (and their parents), all these emotions are multiplied. A new teacher, kids and maybe even a new school that has to get used to your child, understand their "rules" and learn to live with the differences. We are very blessed to be in the Center Point-Urbana School District (CPU) and they have a wonderful staff, and excellent nurse and kitchen staff as well as understanding parents and classmates. That being said it does not mean that all is always rosy. Lynda's skin flared 2 days before school started. With this mild summer we have had we have been blessed that she has not had much to report on the eczema side of things, but the humidity hit like a freight train a few days ago when the reality of Aug finally hit. So through careful planning and enacting "the plan" Lynda looks great on her first day of school. (see picture above) It took 2 days of wet wraps, face included, and her daycare provider doing the same while her parents were at work. You never know what each day will bring, except the smile of your beautiful child. So those with allergies, eczema or asthma please know your hard work is worth it everyday. It can be frustrating, hard emotionally for your child if they are teased or made fun of, but know that you and the strength of the Lord will pull you both through.

Check List for the Start of School:
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* Meet with the Administration- share your story, what it takes to keep your child safe and what you would like to see
* Be flexible- the plan you had may not work for the school as a whole- work with the staff at your school to come up with an alternative or compromise.
* Know your school nurse- make sure she has a list of your child's allergies, triggers and issues
* Make sure the school knows how to get a hold of you. Cell Phones, Pagers e-mail etc.
* If your child is highly allergic to certain things and they could come in contact with them in the course of their education, have a plan for gloves or masks to protect your child.
* Find out if there are other children in your school with the same issues, maybe you could start a small support group or have someone to discuss issues or ideas with.
* Suggest to your school that rewards should not be about food and to use food items as little as possible in their curriculum. i.e. using M&M's to learn counting.
* Start a PAL program in your classroom- your child's classmates need to understand how to help keep your child safe as well.
* Use on-line resources- share them with your district- they don't know what they don't know. This is your time to be an educator.
* Take Epi-Pen trainers to the school- Give them to the teachers, lunch staff and nursing staff so they know what to do should that time come.
* Create a safe zone for your child in the lunch room- Don't segregate children with food allergies, just create a safe zone on your child's table.
* Meet with the District Nutrition Director and staff, chances are they have not been trained in cross contamination. Help them help you- teach them how to keep your child safe.

I hope these back to school tips help. If you ever have any questions- post to the blog, send us your e-mail we will do what we can to help.

Have a great new School Year!

The Taylor's