When I started this blog last summer I did not know any other mothers that had a child with a peanut allergy. Part of my hope for this was blog was to connect with a few other mothers who lived with my reality everyday.
Early this year a local mom contacted me after discovered this blog. Through emails and eventually meeting up at our local support group, we struck up a friendship. There is a bond that two peanut allergy moms have that is difficult to put into words.
We often find it humorous how, between the two of us, we have 4 Epi Pens, an overabundance of baby wipes, and enough Benadryl for a small army.
One wonderful benefit, however, is that we trust each other's food. We know the other one cooks in a totally nut free environment and has done their homework on safe foods. Its one of the few times we don't freak out when someone else feeds our PA child.
Last week we took advantage of one of the last few warm Michigan days to get our two PA boys together. There is a special bond between these two boys that their mothers may never fully comprehend.
And there is a bond between two allergy moms that is hard to describe to someone who does not have children with food allergies.
Who knew peanut allergy boys could be so cute?
Thanks Michelle for the friendship! I am not sure how I could have made it through the last couple of months without it!!
Do you have a friendship with another food allergy mom? If so, we'd love to hear about it. If not, tune back in tomorrow for a project I am working on to connect other food allergy moms. I know many of us can and will benefit from these type of food allergy friendships!
7 comments:
Awww! What area of Michigan are you from? I am near there too :)
Hi smilinggreenmom. We're in the metro Detroit area. Where are you??
I haven't yet met another peanut allergy mom, though I know there's at least one other PA kid in our town that goes to a different school than my son. I'd love to actually meet someone in person and share stories.
Hi Nicole. I know how lonely it can feel to not know another PA mom. I would encourage you to try to meet the other mom. Also, check back tomorrow. I hope this little project I am working on will connect multiple PA moms. I would encourage you to participate. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.
That's so nice. Yes, you and this mom will always have a connection and the kids too. In addition to food allergies (all nuts), my daughter has needed various therapies, speech, ot. Because of this I've had the opportunity to meet many people that I would not otherwise have met. I feel an instant connection with these parents, because we are dealing with similar issues. It would be nice to meet other parents with the same allergy concerns.
Great post.
Linda (NJ)
It is weird but several of my really good (3) friends have kids with peanut allergies. We all have varying levels of comfort zones so it hasn't really worked as well for us. There kids haven't had serious anaphalactic reactions like my daughter so they are a little less extreme than me. Let there kids eat M&M's, ice cream at the parlor, cake at parties. So sometimes it makes me feel even weirder bc my comfort zone is so tight!
Karen (TX)
I have a friend whose son's both have peanut allergy like my son. We both have pretty tight comfort zones so it has worked out well. I get a lot of comfort from this blog and from peanutallergy.com. You can never have too many friends when it comes to this though. :-) Karen in NC
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