November
27
An important message!
Hi Everyone,
With the holiday celebrations coming quickly, I wanted to take the time to share a very important message from a parent in our classroom. In the past, it has been a common practice for parents to bring treats into the classroom to celebrate. Please take the time to read this powerful post.
It is common place for parents to ask each other for help; a copy of the homework assignment, maybe 30 minutes of babysitting after school. But, our ask is so much bigger with so much more at stake – we have to ask other parents for help to keep our son alive.
Every day when we send Joshua to school, we hope and pray and trust that other parents will respect the rules that keep allergic kids safe. Being nut-free at school means that we are asking other parents to read labels and send only nut-free foods in their child’s lunch bag. To do anything else, to make any exceptions puts our son’s life in danger.
Joshua was 16 months old when he had his first reaction. And in that instant, our lives changed forever.
Grocery shopping takes forever because every label must be read. Lifelong traditions involving chocolate and candies like advent calendars and special Easter treats had to be abandoned. Favourite restaurants are avoided. Ice cream shops are off-limits all because if it may contain nuts, it could contain nuts and therefore, it probably does contain nuts. But these are small sacrifices to protect the life of a beautiful, 8 year old boy.
Thirteen years ago, Sabrina Shannon died from an allergic reaction in an Ontario school. Two years later, her legacy and her law was created to protect my son and every other allergic child while in school. Despite these rules and a nut free environment, not a day goes by where I don’t wonder: is this the day that a parent brings in a nut-contaminated treat, and Joshua has a life-threatening allergic reaction at school. After all, it has happened once before. He touched a teacher’s Tim Horton’s coffee cup that was contaminated in the store by a nut-containing product. We were lucky that time – he didn’t die.
Truth by told, I just about throw-up when my phone rings at work and I see “Clearmeadow PS” on my screen. Is it about Joshua? Has he had an allergic reaction? Did they administer his Epipen in time? The nauseating fear is always there.
It is hard to ask for help. It is hard to be perceived as a burden. It is hard to ask other parents to change there plans and be disappointed because of my son. It is hard to ask others parents to remember that allergic kids didn’t ask to be left-out because of their allergy. It’s hard to remind other parents that it isn’t nut-free just because nuts aren’t in the ingredients. But, I do. Every day. To save my son’s life.
Jill Moore
Joshua’s Momma
Thanks for sharing this!