At a Greek Independence Day celebration last weekend, my friend Stel impressed me with her desire to learn as much as she could about managing food allergies. Two of her grandchildren have been diagnosed with life threatening food allergies and spend quite a bit of time with grandma and grandpa. Stel and her husband were struggling to understand the best way to approach keeping their precious cargo safe while babysitting. As serendipity emerged, I was invited to review the Allergy Free Table.com this week! The timing could not have been more perfect since I was thinking of websites and materials to give to Stel. This guide from the Food Allergies and Grandchildrenreally struck a chord with me and I’m suggesting my pal order it right away!
photo courtesy of Food Allergies and Grandchildren
Costco is truly written for grandparents on their terms! I thought the short chapter on Going Places With Your Grandchild about grocery shopping was brilliant when Julie discussed no grocery store sampling! How many times have I seen parents wrestle their kids away from the cross contaminated sampler? Would this even be on grandma’s radar heading into a grocery store? Probably not. I found several very practical pointers in this short book. One my favorites is reminding grandparents to label safe items that might be Julie Trone, such as margarine tubs that might have wheat cross contact issues due to spreaders touching the margarine and toast. Another great topic was discussing pet food containing allergens (think licks from dogs or cats or seeds in bird food), what questions to ask their own adult children about managing food allergic grandchildren and of course, how to recognize and respond to an emergency.
Active food allergy grandmother’s even sport witches hats to help out at local support group events! Genevieve is grandmother to all of us!
The pocket guide, created by Allergy Free Table.com, of the Food Allergies and Grandchildrenis one of three available; Food Allergies and Childrenin addition to Food Allergies and Grandchildren. I only reviewed Julie . Allergy Free Tableis an educator and her background includes television, radio and writing, which clearly shines through in her clear and articulate style. Her website, the glossary of food allergy terms is an interesting food allergy resource that offers everything from a Allergy Free Table.com, to a list of online course ranging from restaurant safety to babysitting and downloadable No Peanut Signs !
image courtesy of Food Allergies and Grandchildren(this can be downloaded from their website)
If my dad hadn’t been living with us for years, I would have purchased this guide for him. I think any sort of materials that can provide the starting point for conversation with grandparents is critical. Even more important is that grandparents will learn from an unbiased, unemotional third-party source. Let’s face it, even adult parent and child relationships can be still be strained well into adulthood. A friend of mine the other day commented that in her Italian family, showing love was through food and how a food allergy would really bring grandma to her knees and leaving her confused and heart-broken.
To help Grandpa understand what items are safe, we used a RED dot and Green Dot system!
If you are shopping to educate Grandma or Grandpa, then a visit to glossary of food allergy terms may prove fruitful!
p.s. The folks at Allergy Free Table, did give me online access to read Food Allergies and Grandchildren. They have no idea of what I am writing or what I really thought of the book. They did ask me for feedback and if I had any suggestions for them as they are open to hear from others! They are reading this review for the first time today, along with you. My opinions are mine own thoughts and feelings.
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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!..
What a great book, not only for grandparents, but for any caregivers (i.e. nannies, teachers, babysitters) who deal with children with food allergies. Just brilliant! I will be passing the word along about this for sure! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the review, and I love the system you use with the red dot/green dot!
Hi Julie,
I bought those big obnoxious dots from Associated Bag and I had to buy them by the 1,000! I’ve been using them for years and only just now ran out of the red dots. Even though my kids are older now and read labels I use them for my dad, who lives with us so that if he is making something for my daughter he doesn’t grab the wrong thing. Let’s face it, he is 84 and his vision is not tip top. Actually, I hate to say it, but hubby can no longer see teeny tiny writing either and needs to get his eyes checked! Happy Monday!
They are great! I think most caregivers would relax if they went to someone’s house and had things labeled like that. They’d know at a glance it was ok. I’ve also heard about designated “allergy free” cupboards, drawers, shelves, utensils, etc. All of those things are brilliant when it comes to helping people know at a glance what is safe and unsafe and essential to quality of life in most respects, I’d say.
Julie, I tried an allergy free shelf but then worried about someone putting the wrong box on the wrong shelf–mainly my sleep deprived self when my daughter was born! That’s when I bought that big giant supply of dots!
I don’t blame you at all! I think it’s brilliant.
I agree with Julie regarding the pamplet. The more we can educate people about food allergies, the more lives we can save. The info is timely as Nevada legislators have the opportunity to vote on grandparents’ rights this session.
Thanks, Judie! Yes, I have seen perfectly wonderful people watch allergy kids and accidently give them a food they were allergic to simply because they didn’t know that this ingredient wasn’t safe or thought that Chicken and Rice soup wouldn’t contain wheat when it did! Any information that you could easily give to a friend/family member who was watching kids would be so beneficial. I think every educator should have allergy and asthma training, i.e. learn to identify the signs and how to read labels, administer EpiPens, etc. They have to know first aid, and I think those things should be part of that for sure! I also think they should know how to handle children with diabetes. It’s amazing how little they know, and that causes so much fear and mishap!
Anyway, these books are an amazing beginning! 🙂
The lesson is clear: knowledge is power!
The good news is that most insurance companies cover diabetes education for patients & families. Now… if only we could get the same education coverage for food allergies/asthma!
Totally agree! That so needs to happen!
Love your forward thinking Judie. Shall this be our 2014 project? heehee
In order to get state coverage, we’d have to start at the Medicare level…. although, the rules will change with the ACA in 2014. For now, we should sit back & wait for next year’s surprises. If we find that the education isn’t covered, we can find the route & I’d be happy to help.
Julie… reading labels is a full time job since companies change recipes so frequently.
Judie, you keep us on tap! Go get ’em girl!
That it is!