Nuts, It’s Almost Halloween

I just bought Halloween costumes for the kids… a monkey for Bug and a butterfly for LadyBug (a la Old Navy). Not my most inspirational year for costuming, but at least they’ll have something.

As Bug gets older, Halloween becomes more and more stressful for me. Trick-or-Treating with a food allergy child is sort of like dodging neighborhood land mines. At each house, I’m the mom standing with her child (which is appropriate since he’ll only be three this year), staring with concern at your bowl of candy. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just looking for something that 1) won’t cause him to break out in hives just from touching the packaging (Reese’s Peanut Butter cups are my worst nightmare on Halloween), 2) won’t make him very ill from eating it. This year, I’m resigned to just buying extra candy and replacing pretty much everything he receives with something we’ve purchased and checked for nuts and eggs.

Bug had his annual blood test this week, which may give us some indication on which direction his allergies are taking. I’m holding out a glimmer of hope that the egg allergies will soon disappear and the peanut/tree nut allergies won’t be far behind. It’s unlikely, and we’re prepared to deal with a lifetime of nut avoidance and anxiety, but a mom can hope.

One thing we can do with minimal stress during this lovely fall season is go pumpkin picking. I’m hoping the weather is nice this weekend so we can take the kids.