Between both of my children, they have been on 72 field trips to date. That is 56 for my son, who I am counting all his high school away soccer games and track meets and 16 field trips for my daughter. I am grateful that I was blessed with two children to fuss over, so I don’t want to come off ungrateful for life. BUT…some days I just get tired and want a food allergy cure. It’s just that simple. Have you ever felt burnt out from all the conversations, research and planning that goes into field trips? Some days, I see the field trip form and have a quick flash in my mind of how can I wiggle my daughter out of the trip. Do you ever feel burnt out on field trips?
To be honest though, I sometimes get tired of reminding the teacher of protocol, sounding like the annoying over protective parent, calling the field trip destination to explore food allergen exposure and asking for reminders to be included on the field trip forms if lunches will be packed. I generally review these items for each field trip (what procedures do you follow-can you share in the comment section below?):
Caroline’s Food Allergy Field Trip To Do List
- Email teacher to ask about destination contact to explore allergen exposure. For example, if heading to the zoo, is there a petting zoo and the kids will be feeding animals?
- Ask teacher if they would like me or my husband to chaperone–in more busy and chaotic environments, teachers enjoy the additional set of “allergy eyes”.
- If lunches or food are involved, ask for a reminder to classroom parents to not pack nuts in the spirit of risk reduction. Even though kids eat nuts at school, they are segregated and during field trips, trying to segregate and manage nuts is an additional layer of supervision and stress for the teacher.
- Follow-up with teacher that, yes indeed, the planned destination is safe. If there are risks, then we discuss if we can reduce them or choose a different venue.
- Walk my child into the classroom the day of the field trip to confirm plans have not changed and that the teacher is also carrying the extra set of EpiPens®. We ask for our children to carry and for the teacher to carry a set in the event our children misplace their set during the trip.
- Identify my child to chaperones, explaining their food allergies. Privacy and HIPAA laws keep the teacher from pointing out who has allergies, but as a parent, I can wave my allergy flag.
I also have learned, from experience, plans change the morning of a field trip. One year, a field trip was almost cancelled on the that morning since the teacher was unable to attend and a substitute teacher was called in. Per school policy, only a teacher can administer epinephrine or carry for a student. Thankfully, the field trip was a grade level event and another teacher on the trip took responsibility and my daughter rode the bus with the other class. Nevertheless, my daughter feared she was the reason her class was going to miss a much-anticipated field trip picnic. At the end of the year, I need to work hard to stay motivated for field trips..but, it’s hard sometimes!
How do you handle food allergies on field trips and do you ever just burn out? Can you share your field trip experiences and how you stay motivated.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
Funny…you brought that up because right this minute I was secretly enjoying the fact that my son stayed home sick today, and I didn’t have to send in a cupcake that I forgot to make. I’m low on cupcakes because I keep eating them out of stress.
I do appreciate reading your field trip checklist. As a former teacher, I can tell you, most teachers appreciate having an extra set of eyes due to unforeseen events.