Help me I am begging you to give me your feedback!

As the last post  Hand outs to the parents and teachers stated I sent the teacher a letter explaining my child's needs and made simple send home info for the other parents. After asking a few parents it turns out the teacher never handed out the info to the parents with all the other forms during Open House.  I also have sat down with her explained my child's needs, how simple this is, how wonderful and supporting most of the other parents are.

On the first day of school the teacher requested we have a meeting after school ended that day (half day the first week). I went to the meeting where she said she and the principal felt for my daughter's safety it was best that I be the only one to supply her with a snack. To make sure that she knew the difference between her snack and her lunch and to make it healthy (did I mention it can only be store bought O_o. )

So after paying for all the tuition, all her uniforms not to mention shoes, socks, all her supplies and making sure she has Gluten free supplies, Trying to anticipate all of her art supply needs So I can order the gluten free versions of those and buying the Gluten free shopping guide for the teacher thinking she would actually use it.  I have spent a lot of money.

Now My daughter having gone to school with many of these children last year at the same school is used to being able to eat snacks that are GF and eat the ones I provide when they are not.  So I tried to explain to my 5yr old how she would no longer be allowed to eat what other children brought in. I said that I would send her a snack everyday and she would eat that instead. She paused for a moment and was fine with it.

Today when I picked her up she starts chattering away about random important bits of her day. I was listening and it was a happy banter until  this came up My daughter (MD): Mommy they had Motts for snack today not the juice I know it is GF  the fruit snacks you need to check that in your book and see if it is gluten free.  Me: Did you have your banana chips?  MD: yeah I ate em all up.  Me:  Great! Did all of you wash your hands after you ate? MD:  We DIDN'T even wash them before! (I look at her in the rear view mirror hoping she is kidding. She is not. Me: So you used a wipe, germ X, or Purell.  She shakes her head no and then Says mama I think they were gluten free so you need to tell them. Me: baby you can not have what they are eating anymore. MD: Why mommy? Why not? (my heart breaking and years of teaching her she is the same as everyone else shattering as well) Me: Because you teacher says so. MD: Why Mama they didn't do this before why would she do this?  Me:  I don't know baby.


I am frustrated, angry, hurt, disappointed and want to do something.  I don't want to be rash in my decision and burn bridges where they need not be burned.  I want my child to be included and not ostracized though. I don't want her peers who go to school with each other for 10 yrs or more to look at her differently.  I don't want her to feel bad about yourself. I got her to stop saying I wish I was a gluten girl mommy and I don't want that back.

I see that while the teacher clearly made my daughter bring a snack for her safety she is not taking proper precautions to eliminate cross contamination. I think her explaining to me she would be put at a separate table with her GF playdough is what she thinks is the proper procedure even though I wrote what is and is not proper.  I had not gone to the school to ask them to provide GF lunches to be made available because they worked with me before and why push something when it is going so well.  Well now it is not going well and I want my child to be able to buy lunch if I am tired, sick, or just to have that experience in life.  They had bake sales all the time last year and will be setting up for ice cream and topping soon.  Well she should be able to enjoy that. Without it being cross contaminated.

I could save all the money we are spending and home school my child but there are always going to be these issues or people that pop up in life. She does not need a protective bubble she needs to learn how to function in the real world.   Like I told the teacher I am realistic there are times where I can not control if she gets gluten on her or in her. Then there are times that I choose to weigh if this life experience is worth putting up with the contamination fallout.

Thank you for reading through that here is my question. What would you do as a mother or parent if you were in my shoes? Would you try approaching the teacher again? Would you go to the principal? Would you get the laws to back you up?  Would you just look for another school?  I need some input from other people please.

hand outs to parents and teacher to help them understand what your child can have

While my child is going to the same school with 11 of her fellow students returning I wrote a letter or print out explaining more about what my child can and can not have. Asking them to give me advance notice for birthdays and what they will be bringing so I can try to make sure my child has the same.  I listed candy she could have so at holidays like valentines day or birthday parties  (pinatas or goody bags) so they would know in advance. I wrote in good places to shop in our local area. Just helpful info.

We have a new teacher and this is her first time dealing with gluten so I have made up a printout for her as well. I also bought the new Gluten free shopping guide to stay in her class room.

I am going to share them with you in case you want to copy them and write in your own details. I hope they help.

Letter to Teachers in Google documents

If you  go to file you can download in whatever for you might need.

Letter to the other parents explaining what your child can and can not have

If you  go to file you can download in whatever for you might need.

While this has been written for gluten allergy you can take this format and turn it into any allergy. I tried not to mention anything with nuts since there is also a child with a nut allergy in our class.

I hope that you find these helpful and if you find any changes that need to be made please leave a comment.  

Gluten free make up that is easy to buy

I know for so many people and doctors out there that anything that whether products need to be gluten free if they are not digested is a huge controversy.  What follows is my opinion and mine alone.

Some people have a sensitivity to gluten and that means to what touches their body as well as what they digest. Some people are only bothered by what they digest. That said, If you are wearing lipstick  you could ingest it. If  you chew on your fingernails you can ingest the nail polish.   Lotion or soap on your hands  could contaminate your food. I mean there are a million different ways but most likely if you  have the allergy then you know all this.

If you are a parent to, married to, or even dating someone with this problem.  When they kiss your cheek you have make up there. What about perfume? do you nuzzle your face with your baby's?  You know how they put their hands on everything and then back in their mouths.   I could list so many more reasons for using All gluten free products but I will spare you. 

Now that you read all of that I have FOUND LOCAL GF MAKE UP!!!! Well local for me hopefully close to a retailer near you.  Body Shop has a large selection of it in store.  

I am not much for wearing make up but I do wear it on special occasions so I was glad to see that I could purchase something at the last minute.  I am more excited about Santa having a place to buy products for my daughter to play with. The people were so very helpful so go give them a try.

Kaleidoscope Associates in Pensacola, FL work with food allergies

I was looking for some summer activities for my daughter to do and  I saw KaleidoscopeAssociates had a culinary camp. I was so excited and then I remembered the class is probably not for kids with food allergies.  So I contacted Jacki Selby to ask her this

Do you offer the summer camp for those children with food allergies? My daughter LOVES to cook.  She can not tolerate gluten in any form. She is only 5 so could not join this year but I am trying to find out for next year.
Thank you,
KR


This is her exciting response:

Thanks for contacting us! Yes, we do offer cooking classes and camps for children with food allergies. In fact, we also offer customized birthday cooking parties for children with allergies. Our associates are very committed to facilitating a "normal" food experience for all children, despite their food allergies. 

I look forward to meeting you and your daughter. If you attend the May 16th Gallery Night in downtown Pensacola, please stop by Distinctive Kitchens and say "hi"! We will be in the kitchen doing food demos with some of our current students.
Have a blessed day,
Jacki

I was so happy and thankful that they already had something in place for people with food allergies. We have all called or written to find out that a place we wanted to go does not and will not allow outside food. I was expecting the answer to be Kaleidoscope  no we do not have a class for food allergies and then write her asking if they would consider making one. The fact that they not only have a camp but parties too is great. I mean how many birthday parties have you gone to where you or your child could not even eat the food at the party. Now your child can not only eat it but they can have fun making it too.

If you are wanting to sign up for summer camp here is the link if you did not find it on the facebook site Class Calendar scroll to June to see the first class.  you may want to call and find out when the allergy friendly class is here is the phone number 850-261-4063. Kaleidoscope does classes in a variety of locations such as Distinctive Kitchen at 29 South Palafox Place Pensacola, FL, Kaleidoscope Associates' classes are in Mobile, AL, and they have a variety of other locations they also present classes. So drop them a line or email and see if there is one near you.