I suppose one of the normal parts of being the younger sibling is wanting to be just like your big brother. Minus the peanut allergy, of course. Or, maybe not!
I was thrilled in January last year when Tyler started asking me the "Is this safe?" question. He had just turned 4 and had been dealing with PA for 3 of those years. As you can imagine, those three years we filled with lots of anxiety because Tyler did not fully understand his allergy. So when the "Is this safe?" question started coming out of his mouth, I almost did a back flip!
I was also worried my youngest child might have Tyler's same allergies. Even though he had never reacted to anything, I still had him tested last spring when he was 2.5 years. Our allergist was 99% sure there was no PA (a food challenge in the future is the only way to know for sure...not looking forward to that!).
Since Dylan does not appear to have PA, I don't allow him to eat nuts, but I am not nearly as scared about cross contamination issues. Its also been a teaching tool for me to show Tyler how Dylan (and lots of other people) can eat things he can't. Its easier to teach at home and he has handled it wonderfully.
So...in the last couple of weeks Dylan started bringing me food and asking "Is this safe?" It still makes me chuckle to myself because its so darn cute! And I answer each question for his specific allergy situation (or lack thereof). Tyler knows the difference in his health needs and Dylan's.
He looks up to his big brother so much. He has never even seen a nut in his lifetime, much less eaten one. He will never know a day where our life has not revolved, to some extent, around Tyler's allergy. For him, PA is just one more thing to look up to Tyler for.
Plus, it is cute!
4 comments:
So cute!
Interesting that Dylan's never even seen a nut! For what it's worth, I make a point of periodically pointing out the nuts and peanut butter and other unsafe products when we're at the grocery store to my son (PA) and will with my daughter when she's old enough to understand (we're avoiding with her but I probably won't get her tested for a while). I want them to know what different kinds of nuts, shelled and unshelled peanuts, and common peanut products look like so they know what not to touch or eat if they're in someone else's house and I'm not right beside them.
Thanks so much for your blog and all the great info!
- Steph
What a sweet post. I understand what you mean about siblings not knowing anything but the family life revolving around allergies. That's how it is with our two kiddos too. They adore eachother and our oldest daughter really "mothers" her little brother with allergies. Very sweet!
Thanks for the comment Steph. I also point out nuts to Tyler at the grocery store and he knows what all of them look like. Dylan has a bit of a spastic personality and never pays attention. That will come in time.
Plus, everyone that takes care of him knows "No nuts!" for both of them. But, in time, Dylan will also come to know more and more about nuts. I'm thankful Tyler is the much more diligent child and is very aware of nuts.
Thanks for the comment!
This is great. It reminded me of my boys. My 3rd son has told many, many people: "David is allergic to nuts and I don't like them!"
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