Allergy Free Trick Or Treating - Or Not.

While the wee ones love all parts of Halloween, there's a few small sticking points for us.  The candy is the big one, as Little Miss has a dairy allergy, and none of us eat HFCS, plus we avoid dyes and other nasties.  That limits the candy we end up eating each year, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's hard for the wee ones - especially Little Miss who usually ends up with just a few bags of pretzels - and I always have a stock of "trade" items on hand that are treats I know they can eat.  We're lucky, though.  A local organization put together an allergen free trick or treat for the special needs children in the area, knowing that so many are on restricted diets and can eat none of the candy they collect.

It's a brilliant idea, and I love that the neighborhood bands together to do this.  They even have tables at the ends of their driveways for the most part so the kids can trick or treat more easily instead of having to go all the way up to each of the houses.  One neighbor also creates an incredible haunted house for the kids to go through - altering the scary factor based on the requests of the kids going through in each wave.  This year, one person even rented a giant bouncy house so the kids could play once they finished trick or treating.

Except...

Here's where I start to feel ungrateful.  There were eight houses participating this year.  That isn't the issue.  My irritation - and I feel slightly justified in it because this was advertised as allergen free - is that this is what we collected from the eight houses:

So the most common allergens are peanuts, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, and tree nuts.  Many more children have issues with corn, even though it isn't in the major 8 - yet.  In fact, companies are now required to label when their products have any of the big four: nuts, wheat, dairy or soy.  Most of the special needs children are on the spectrum (including Mister Man), and many of those are on gluten free, dairy free diets.  More avoid HFCS and dyes, including many who are diagnosed with ADHD.

I appreciate that many of the houses decided to go "natural" for the allergen free trick or treating.  But they missed the boat.  Natural is not allergen free.

The Pop Chips contain dairy.  The Barbara's contains wheat and soy and is produced in a factory with milk, eggs, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, and coconut.  The breakfast cookies contain wheat, soy, eggs, and are produced in a factory with wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, eggs, and dairy.  The Back to Nature contains wheat, egg, milk, and soy.  The Sunkist "fruit flavored" snacks?  There's no ingredient listing on them, but I can tell you that fruit flavored snacks will contain HFCS and dyes.

So of the eight items we collected - oh, they also handed out prepopped popcorn in bags that contained dairy, wheat, and soy, I forgot that one - Little Miss can have one.  The big event that she's most excited about because she can actually eat the treats she collects was a bust because unfortunately people don't understand allergies.  She was inconsolable, and I don't blame her.  She was looking forward to this for weeks.

And I feel like a complete schmo for complaining, but... it's advertised as an allergen free trick or treat, and it wasn't anything of the kind.  And she's my neurotypical kid.  Try explaining to a more profoundly impacted child that the candy they can eat... they can't now.  It was so disappointing and so unnecessarily so.

The concept is brilliant.  And Surf Sweets has great allergen free candy.  So does Yummy Earth.  Indie Candy makes wonderful allergen free candy.  Strawberry Hill sells all kinds of allergen free candies.  There's even Glee Gum that is an allergy free alternative.  And that's just a small sampling of the companies I buy from regularly that I know are allergy free.  There's a ton more out there.  None of it was included in what the houses handed out this year, but it could have been if there was better education of what allergen free means.

I love the idea.  I love that the neighbors are willing to do this special event.  But creating the special event and then providing items that the children can't enjoy makes it worse than not having it at all.  Because they're kids.  And they don't get why they can't enjoy an event created for them.  Next year, we may not go because I don't want the wee ones to have this disappointment again - and I can't take on another project so it gets done right (so I say now; watch, I'll end up spearheading this in another eight months).

Because we have allergies in our house and because we know so many who have severe allergies, we always provide an alternative to traditional candy.  I wrote Monday about the book or treat option I'm having this year.  And I'm passing our Plants vs. Zombies trading cards.  And we have a small stash of "special" allergen free candy for those who request it.

What do you hand out for Halloween?  Do you have children with allergies?  How do you handle it if you do?

Updated: I have since found out that the treats that were provided by the neighbors for the special needs allergy free trick or treat was purchased by the special needs organization that arranged this.  So the people who put it together who are supposed to be smart about this and advertised it as allergy free were the ones who provided the treats that absolutely were not allergy free.  I've moved past disappointed to disgusted and very sad.  These are people who are supposed to know better!

First Day Of School: Mom Fail

This week was our first week of school. I got the wee ones up and ready bright and early for their first day. We have a tradition that we take pictures on our front step the first day of every school year. It's so fun to look back over the years (ok, so it's only been four) and see how much they've grown. They are now taller than the door handle. Much taller.

I ushered them outside for our photo shoot, just in time before we had to leave to pick up carpool and get to school on time. I grabbed my camera as I headed out the door and got them arranged on the front porch.

I turned on my camera and looked through the lens. Oddly, I couldn't take a photo. I pulled the camera away from my eye to puzzle it out. Oh. Hmm. "Battery Exhausted" flashed away at me.

I sighed and mentally cursed myself for not having oh, I don't know checked the battery or simply charged it just in case because this was a Big Day. Grumbling, I ran inside, having the brilliant idea to simply use my point and shoot - hoping against hope that this camera had battery to spare.

Unfortunately, the point and shoot has seen better days, and the photos it now takes aren't exactly the best. Evidence?

So ummm because I wasn't satisfied, I decided to "recreate" the first day of school on the second day. Because my camera battery had now been plugged in for 24 hours and there was no way I was failing again. Do you think they'll notice in ten years that this was taken on a Mass day because Mister Man is in his full uniform and that it was therefore not truly a first day of school picture?

I sure hope not. I'm going with the same theory for when I make up errr guesstimate the information for their baby books. Someday. Eh, just sign me up for Mother Of The Year and be done with it.

Win a Lawry's seasoning pack

Wordless Wednesday - I Am Not A Cake Decorator

I bake things to taste good. Looking good is beyond me. As I prepared to head out to Little Miss's birthday party with her completely plain chocolate frosted (yummy) cake, I panicked. I grabbed the purple gel writer I happened to have on hand and stuck in a couple extra froggy cookies from her goodie bag. The good news is that you can't see how the purple gel ran in this photo my friend took.

I thought being funny might help, thus the "Hoppy" birthday for her frog themed party. I have a feeling no bakery is going to hire me anytime soon!

Win a Therapon Skin Renewal System here
Win a Wendy's gift card here

I Would Make A Horrible Boy Scout

Mister Man joined Cub Scouts this year. He loves it. I mean L-O-V-E-S it, and yes, he's doing it again next year. Today was a big day for him, as he had his Blue and Gold Banquet where he moved from being a Tiger Scout to being a Wolf Scout. Yay!

And being the great mom I am, I brought not one but two cameras with me. I had my pocket camera as a backup in my purse, and I grabbed my DSLR bag, knowing that I was going to want to switch lenses and use the external flash. Rock on, me.

You know that Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared?

It turns out that I switched purses last night to go out to dinner and neglected to move the pocket camera from one purse to the other. No biggie. I opened up my camera bag to discover my zoom lens and external flash. And no camera. Closing my eyes, I could picture it sitting on my coffee table.

*sigh*

Fortunately, I have my trusty camera phone. It's slow, but it actually has surprisingly good resolution. In fact, you should see the pictures from last night's dinner at Wildfire with the three guys in the group drinking their manly Manhattans from girly glasses with cherries floating in them. Besides the point, oops.

I did what I could, but ... my camera didn't like the lighting or the distance or ... something. This shot was the best of the bunch.

Yeah, because you can't actually tell since the photo is so blurry and bleh, Mister Man is the boy on the far left. I'll be begging other parents (not many cameras unfortunately, as apparently many of us were slacker parents today) for any photos they got of the ceremony.

But Scouting? It's fun. I never did post about his Pinewood Derby experience. I was thrilled when Mister Man showed no interest in winning the races, as I was fairly confident it would not be likely given how competitive I've heard it can be. We let him do the majority of it on his own, the exception being the saw work obviously.

He loved his race car. He decorated it with Legos and let his passion shine through. Definitely not the most aerodynamic, but he didn't care when I pointed that out - more power to him.

But when he came home that afternoon (I missed it, sadly, as Little Miss had two birthday parties I had to ferry her to and from during the Derby), he had a surprise for me. He won third place in the design portion. I didn't even realize design mattered in the car.

He is prouder than proud of his trophy. Next year? He's already decided he wants to make his car look like an AT-AT Walker. I'm working on talking him down from there; fortunately I've still got about ten months to do that!

Pssssst I have a Facebook Fan page Facebook page. Come, like me! And, yes, I'm on Twitter, too - just sayin'.

An F For Me In Homework This Week

I love the wee ones' schools. They are at different schools for different reasons, and both are very strong schools with lots of support and "extra" things that make them awesome. Both wee ones are currently involved in reading programs - albeit very different ones with very different structures and rewards.

Sometimes, the extras for the wee ones mean I have homework, too. Both the wee ones had occasion to dress up this week. In costume.

I am the mom who goes to the costume store to find a costume for my children. I can't imagine actually managing to create and sew a costume for the wee ones for Halloween. And no, I am not creative enough to simply find things for a costume at home. I'm just not that person, and I'm ok with it.

First up was Mister Man who had to dress as a 100 year old man for the 100th day of school. Are you kidding me?

Fortunately, he has corduroy pants. That helped. I wanted to make a potbelly for him (thank you to someone for that suggestion) by tying a pillow to his tummy; he was having none of it. Ditto with trying to make a hump for a hunched over old man. Fortunately, I found a plaid shirt that looked sorta old man-ish. Ish.

I was planning to put baby powder in his hair to make it look grey, as well. He wasn't happy with that idea at first, as he's the child who refuses to have the baby powder at the barber because it irritates his already roughed up neck and makes him itch more. Once I explained it was only going on his very thick hair, he was good with it. That said, I assumed I had baby powder I had received in a baby kit somewhere (I never, ever used any). Apparently, either I never did or I tossed it somewhere along the way. Instead, he went as an old man who's a big fan of Just For Men.

The coup de grace that actually made it sort of work? As I was checking my parents' house for any snow damage after the blizzard a couple weeks ago, I discovered a walking cane in the basement. Score!

Little Miss was even more fun. She was supposed to go as her favorite word. Ummm yeah. Her favorite word? I was afraid to even ask her what it was, knowing it would be a nightmare to try to create a costume. Fortunately, Twitter to the rescue, as a few friends graciously provided me with some dumbed down suggestions that even I could create.

Little Miss's costume? She went dressed as a tree. I even made leaves. That said, the leaves started to fall off as we put on her coat. Oops. I explained to her that she was simply a deciduous tree (look, new vocab word!) whose leaves were falling off as it went from summer to fall to winter. Thankfully, she bought it.

Next year, I've learned the teachers provide a list of vocabulary words for us to choose from. Disguise? Cyclone? I'm pretty sure I'll be hitting Twitter again for help.

The wee ones were happy with their costumes, but I have to admit I'm a little ashamed, especially as I saw students with age lines drawn in with makeup (ohhhh, good idea!) or dressed in full on costumes like a present and the like. Not my best parenting week.

I am also giving away a Progresso Souper You Debut gift pack here.

Oh, and while you're at it, I finally set up a Facebook Fan page for my blog. It's way overdue. Go like me on Facebook if you would so I can get an official username - once I get enough likes. You can also follow me on Twitter, too, if you're so inclined.

Nope, It's Not A Spider's Web

Soooo, this is my Jabra headset. The great one that I use all the time because that way I don't accidentally hang up my phone while talking (my cheek doesn't like my Droid or vice versa, I'm still not sure which). I love it, and it has a special place of honor all its own in my purse in a little zippered pocket to protect this not inexpensive little toy.

So what do you think? Does it look like a spider crawled into my purse and spun its web around my Jabra?

Not so much unfortunately.

Nope. As protected as my Jabra bluetooth is in its little zippered pocket, I got it out the other day, and the portion that goes over my ear had simply snapped off. It's bendable and flexible, yet it had somehow broken off.

And I may not be tiny and delicate, but apparently my ears are. I can't wear the bluetooth, even with the smallest earpiece setting, without something to snuggle it into place. My ears are simply too small, and it falls out. Repeatedly. Trust me, I tried everything.

Including Gorilla Glue, which doesn't really work well on the smooth plastic parts of a Jabra Bluetooth. This is my third attempt at getting it to stay on. Let's all cross our fingers in hopes that it stays together like it should this time. I can't justify spending another $75 on a bluetooth right now.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

An Update From The Potty Training Wars

Last Wednesday evening, my husband was putting Little Miss to bed while I was working with Mister Man. I found out then that she was out of Pull-Ups. Ummm, what?

It was 6:30 at night and time for her bed. No one had bothered to mention the dearth of Pull-Ups until that point. Costco had a sale on Pull-Ups starting the next day. Thursday mornings are sheet changing days in my house.

I decided to try one more time to see if she was ready to stay dry overnight, knowing that I had a plastic mat under her sheets just in case. I explained to her what we were doing, and she repeated after me, "Body. Hey! Body! Listen up. I'm going without a Pull-Up tonight. You need to wake me up if you have to go p0tty. Got it? You'd better!" We were as set as we were going to be.

I woke her up for a p0tty run when I went to bed, and she went.

The next morning, her bed was wet. I commiserated with her a bit and asked what happened. Did you wake up all wet this morning?

No.

Ummmm you got wet after you woke up?

Yes. I woke up this morning, and I had to go p0tty and I forgot I wasn't wearing a Pull-Up anymore.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.

Ummm what? Wait, you mean to tell me that you stayed dry all night long, only to wake up in the morning and wet your bed simply because you were too lazy to walk down the hall to the bathroom? Are you kidding me?

There are no more Pull-Ups.

Or there weren't. After our little discussion, she was dry on Thursday night. And on Friday night. And on Saturday night. Since then, she's wet her bed once or more a night every night, even with both my husband and I waking her in the middle of the night. So yeah, when I went to Costco today, I bought more Pull-Ups.

Score:
Little Miss 6
Mommy 0

Current Giveaways:
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here
The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer DVD with 2 winners here

Mommy Needs To Go Back To Kindergarten

Current Giveaways:

$25 Target Gift Card and a whole bunch of back to school type stuff here.
Family four pack of tickets to Disney on Ice in Chicago for the Wednesday September 8 performance here.
Seventh Generation prize pack filled with cleaning supplies here.

***

So Little Miss finally started kindergarten. After all the changes of last week, she finally got enrolled and met her teacher and we even (sort of) found out her bus schedule - for the afternoons at least.

Amazingly, she even let me choose her outfit today, although she rejected my first option. Note that I was smart enough not to try a skirt. (And so so weird not to see kids in uniforms! I got used to it so quickly after just a year.)

Once we got out the door, (late today and fines for both of them) I dropped off the carpool at Mister Man's school. Unlike Friday morning where the booster seats in the third row were so crammed together that the poor three kids back there were almost permanently living there (that's its own story), everyone comfortably fit in the car and we were able to use the drop off line to have my circus clown car act of four kids piling out of my car.

From there, I drove on to Little Miss's school. When I asked in the office for a map of the school, they didn't have one (note to people who work in schools: make a hand drawn map for families showing the important things in your school - front door, office, gym, parking lot(s), and so forth). I was told to park and then kids play in the playground until the bell rings and they line up with their teachers.

So I parked. And I walked to the playground. I saw lines of backpacks on the basketball court, but I couldn't decipher the codes written in chalk for which class was which. Once I figured out who the adult aides were supervising, I asked one. That's when I found out there are two playgrounds. And that kindergarteners meet at the other one. Located on the opposite side of the school.

Not wanting to be late on the first day, we hustled down the sidewalk. We heard the first bell ring as we passed in front of the school, and luckily we made it into line while it was still forming and before it started moving. Phew!

Who knew it was so hard to get someone to school? In previous years, either a bus has shown up to pick up a wee one (this year the bus arrives 15 minutes after I leave to drive carpool, boo!) or the school provided a map with good instructions on dropoff and pickup procedures. Apparently Mommy fails the first day.

Fingers crossed Little Miss doesn't!

I'm Trying So Hard To Be Healthy

*sigh*

I'm about ready to give up, although I know that isn't the answer. With the wee ones, especially, I do what I can to ensure that I'm teaching them to be safe, helping them learn to live happy and productive lives, and feeding them the best foods (ok, the Twix-tacular bars aside) that are the healthiest for them.

I don't always feel like I'm a success, but I generally feel like I at least am a ship on a steady course towards the right destination, even though a wave may push me one way or the other temporarily. I'm not the best parent, but I do ok.

But ohhh this food thing.

We don't eat trans fats at all - nothing partially hydrogenated gets eaten by us (and yes, that means some foods that we're given in goodie bags or for Halloween get donated instead of enjoyed by the wee ones). They cause obesity and raise bad cholesterol, lowering good cholesterol.

I cut out all plastic that wasn't BPA-free because of the risks of BPA. The increase in diabetes and fertility problems and memory issues just wasn't worth it.

High fructose corn syrup (and really, just about all corn syrup) is also a forbidden food, and the wee ones know it. Yep, this is another one that leads to obesity, but I was also concerned with the mercury that studies found contained in many samples of foods made with HFCS.

Yesterday, studies came out showing that pesticides - particularly in produce - appear to be a big part of the reason for higher incidence of ADHD. Given the high correlation between attention issues and autism (not the mention that fact that there are times of concern with Mister Man's attention levels!), I can't justify putting him at risk. And my march towards buying organic has suddenly become a sprint as I vow to avoid any produce that isn't organic going forward.

And today ... more bad news. That BPA issue? It's worse in the linings of cans than it is in plastic. So much for my "healthy" homemade tomato sauce. Or my emergency we're-out-of-fruit-pineapple. Eden Foods is apparently the only option for non-BPA cans, and I don't think I've ever seen that brand near me.

So what's next?

What else will I learn that I'm doing that I think is healthy, that I'm trying to do to help the wee ones only to discover that I'm instead poisoning them in one form or the other.

I'll be the mom sitting in the corner drooling and muttering gibberish. Don't mind me.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ok, so I've been very much MIA. Needless to say, I've been swamped with my preschool fundraiser and then I got sick. I'm still recovering and may actually head to bed as soon as I get this posted, but I figure I ought to write something again at some point!

Regardless, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Whether you're doing it on your own or in a great partnership, you're doing the best you can, and today is the day to celebrate the joy you bring to those little lives and the impact you make!

Around here, I was spoiled with the wee ones waking me up - Mister Man in particular - with a special present. He gave me a dollar bill from his piggy bank. Awwww.

He also created a lovely hat from a coffee filter for the Mother's Day tea at his school (and no, I will not be posting any pictures of me in it, thank you very much), which was oh so sweet, as well as a lovely nosegay. And the requisite marigolds. I now have six.

Little Miss provided me with the handprint lilies that she created on a laminated sheet of paper. She also "wrote" me a greeting on the back. While it's in her handwriting, I don't believe her claims that she spelled it out all by herself.

Yes, I will be putting it in her memory box to save forever.

My husband also provided me with presents. He sent me an Edible Arrangements basket, as he does regularly for major holidays. It was a cute little orange pail, and the wee ones were excited for the fruit I'd share with them.

My only disappointment? The strawberries in this bunch were way overripe. In fact, they've already started to mold, and I put it in the fridge immediately after receiving it. The fruit we've had before has always been perfect, and after a bit of dithering, I called to ask if there was a problem with the strawberries.

They claimed there were no issues and that I must have just gotten the last of the previous batch and offered to give me a free box of chocolate covered strawberries to make up for it. At least it was something.

I drove over to pick them up, and I received six chocolate covered strawberries to replace my ten chocolate covered strawberries on my arrangement. That was a disappointment. Even Mister Man didn't want to eat the chocolate covered strawberries on the plant, and he's not exactly a food connoisseur (yet).

I think we'll give them another shot, as this is a new franchise, but I may be at the end of receiving healthy (ok, relatively healthy) and unique presents from Edible Arrangements. And that's too bad.

Fortunately, my husband also picked up a gift certificate for massages, and those don't go stale. Now if I could just find some free time to schedule that appointment, I'd be all good!

Here's hoping you are properly spoiled on your Mother's Day.



PS I have a new giveaway up for a Family Pizza Party from Pillsbury on my other site.

Sometimes You're The Windshield; Sometimes You're The Bug

I love that song, and now I have it going through my head. Artist anyone?

Today, I was the bug. While I was super productive and got a lot done, I also realized that all my running around out and about probably induced quite a few snickers. And deservedly so.

I have a pair of jeans that is coming really close to having a hole in the knee. I know to be careful with them. This is not uncommon, as the knees seem to give out regularly.

Me? I've got a whole different issue, and yes, I apparently walked around like this all day long. It wasn't until after dinner when Mister Man pointed it out that I realized my problem.

Go ahead, you can laugh, too. You've got my permission. There's really no way to salvage these, is there?

BUT if you laugh, you have to go enter giveaways - I'm extending my probiotic giveaway due to lack of entries. Probiotics are good for you in a lot of ways, and many of these are perfect for kids. Go. Enter.

Plus e.l.f. cosmetics giveaway.

And I have a brand new giveaway from Energizer - a Smart Charger!

Lastly (I know I know) if you want to hear about the oh so fun Silicon Valley Chicago Moms Blog event, go check out part one of my recap here.

Made In America

I'm so proud.

I don't shop in the dollar store that often, but sometimes I forget and I wander in there. Like when I was looking for some cheap thank you notes. Ha!

They didn't have any.

However, while browsing, I did find a few things that I had to buy. With Mister Man's vision exercises, we have one exercise where we are doing a lot of erasing of pencil marks. We've already gone though almost an entire eraser, so when I found six large erasers for a dollar, I bought them. Ditto with the four glue sticks for a dollar (gotta glue on those Labels for Education to get those bonus points!).

When I got home, I flipped over the erasers for some unknown reason, and I got sad. Really, really sad. Here, see if you can figure out why.



The irony finally really hit me yesterday. Wanna know why? This was my final purchase at the dollar store.



I'm thinking I need to send it to the erasers manufacturer.