p-nut butter

How about just a cheese sandwich? My daughter doesn't like jelly, so she only eats pb sandwiches or she will eat a cheese sandwich. I have gotten her to eat new things by enforcing the rule that you have to have one bite of the new food every time we have it. She loves brussles sprouts because of this method.
I understand where the school is coming from, but at the same time see your point. My daughter goes to a private school now, and the food there is not only good, but very nutritious. Some of the public schools won't even let you bring in homemade goodies for parties. I completely understand your financial situation. Have you tried applying for foodstamps or any government assistance? I know it isn't something you probably want to do, but it is there for a reason. If I wasn't receiving foodstamps, I wouldn't be able to eat. Also, have you heard of the AngelFood program? They give an entire box of food away for around $30. The food is decent, and fresh. It's not near expiration or anything. I think that with him being on spring break, now would be the time to expirament with new foods or ideas.

I think your first reaction about having the whole school change it's policy because of a few students is quite normal. I never even knew this issue existed until a few years ago. I cannot remember where we were flying to, but instead of peanuts on the flight they had bagel chips or something. Whatever it was, it wasn't something I liked (I too am a very picky eater), I was hungry and had not thought to pack a snack because it was a short trip and I do like peanuts.

I was quite annoyed at the time. I did not realize how allergic some people are to peanuts, not just eating them but through skin contact and inhaulation as well. I saw a show on the Discovery channel about it and I cannot imagine how scarey it must be to have your life or the life of your child depend on complete strangers that may be ignorant of the dangers (I certainly was). There's more information out there now, use of peanuts or their products are posted. Until rather recently, they were sitting ducks.

Have you tried taking him to the supermarket and let him choose some new things to eat ? If its his choice he may surprise you.

This is the last week of Spring Break over here english. I will be glad for Monday. lol. I know that feeling of waking up wondering if you have any friends left at PC. Can be a bit overwhelming until I get here to find my fears were unfounded. Just another indicator of how badly you need a break from all the stressors pilling up on top of you. I really hope you can find that break soon. Time for some fun while you escape thinking or doing anything.

You will figure this and everything else out in time. It is wise of you to take a break from thinking about solutions. They will find you.

As for shopping cheaper one thing I have done is shop Costco and other big box stores with friends so that we can split cases of food and other household stuff. I can't afford a whole case of everything nor do I have the space to store them but I do like to get the savings so group shopping is an idea that works... and its fun too.

For years my son would only eat ham and cheese sandwiches but that can be expensive so I tried to give him one or the other and boy did he complain!! When I was honest with him about why I was doing it he was more accepting and in fact came up with alternatives that were cheaper. Now ham and cheese are for special days and left overs for the school microwave are more the norm.

I don't always feel well enough to cook everyday and that used to lead to a lot of fast food takeout or prepakaged foods. As money got tighter and my son got older we started to spend a day a week cooking food that we freeze and can easily heat up for meals through the week.

The whole thing's rather crazy really. I mean, it sucks to be allergic to stuff, but banning it is crazy it's basically saying "If they can't have it, no one can" and that's not fair to anyone in the end.

It's not that simple nvr mind.... a person can actually die within hours of inhaling the stuff. It may be inconvenient but the conseqences of not accommodating are deadly.

You can always call the School Board... over the years of my boys haven been in public school I learned that schools some times do things (make policies) that the School Board can and will over rid..... I speak from experience at having to call them a few times my self.

We do have this rule at our elementary school, it's a complete ban. At the middle school there is a designated area for people with peanut allergies. Apparently though there's no ban at the high school, probably because they hope that by 15-18 you can take care of your self.

If it were my child, I’d keep him/her home. I’M NOT SAYING THAT’S WHAT THEY SHOULD DO, but it’s what I would do. So many people do not understand the gravity of this situation. I don’t know what it is specifically about a peanut allergy that makes it so dire.

My kids frequently ate peanut butter on toast for breakfast; their favorite breakfast cereal was Reese’s peanut butter puffs. Their favorite cookies are peanut butter. If they had gone to school and touched something with peanut butter left on their hand, just a minute trace, and someone with this life threatening allergy touched it after them… it could literally kill them. Prior to that special, a situation like that being dangerous wouldn’t have occurred to me.

I’m curious as to what the schools do now. I know in this state, if it is a closed campus, they have to give the kids something for lunch. Here, for those kids that didn’t have lunch money it was a peanut butter sandwich and milk. They chose peanut butter because it was cheap, quick and nutritious.

Do they notify you that there is a student in the school that has this allergy so that you know that even eating a peanut butter sandwich on the way to school can endanger that child? Isn’t that a violation of their privacy?

• A rash may occur where the skin is touched by peanut butter but a dangerous reaction will not result unless the peanut butter enters the mouth, nose, or eyes.

• The rash will get better when washed with soap and water, and when Benadryl® is given.

• Just smelling peanut butter will not cause an allergic reaction because there is no peanut protein in an odor.

http://www-tc.pbskids.org/arthur/par...Allergy_QA.pdf

Very true, however inhaling the dust, can cause a fatal reaction, which is why the plane would not allow any of us to have peanuts. The passenger with an issue was in first class.

My point with kids touching things, is younger children tend not to wash their hands often enough. If an infant/toddler’s skin is bothering them, the first place it goes (if possible) is in their mouth.

wow - you are all a fount of information! Thanks for all the great suggestions. I think I'll try to get my son more involved in choosing his lunch and check with the school about a microwave.

changing grocery stores - no options in this town except HEB or Walmart, and HEB is generally cheaper, despite Walmart's commercials that say otherwise. Besides - Walmart is dangerous - there's a lot more than food there that I would like to buy and before I know it my "grocery" bill included a tank top, a pair of shorts and a video game.

Food stamps is also not an option. We make too much money - we're through the cracks people - too much money to get any kind of assistance, but not enough money to make ends meet. It's my part time teaching job - I bring home $2000 a month when I'm teaching, but over Christmas and summer, I bring home $0. Sooo, when I'm working we are playing catch up for the bills that all piled up while I wasn't working. Oh - and just try to get a service industry job when you have a master's degree and 10 years of teaching experience. They laugh at me. Why should they hire me, when they can hire a teenager to do the same thing? I've pointed out that I'm more responsible and less likely to call in sick to go to the beach, but that doesn't seem to help. ah...okay I could rant for a while about this, but I won't.

Hi english... you sound better today. I know what you mean about the job market. My work history is in management and when my friend suggested today that maybe a smaller job would better suit me given my stress issues I had to tell her it wasn't that simple. No one wants to hire a manager for a clerical position. They think I am just taking the job until a management positions opens up. And like you say the service industry won't even look at me. Sometimes over-skilled can be as problematic as under-skilled. Strange world. lol

Good luck with the lunch menus. My son and I got rather creative with wraps made from supper left overs that he heated up in the microwave.