Hi, Everyone.
My PA son's preschool will be having a Valentine's Day 'party' - of sorts.
The teachers have been pretty good about the PA all year so far. We've had a few minor reactions, but fixed the problems and have been fine since. One teacher called me to double-check on the party procedure, saying it would be a bit different from all the other parties because of the focus on candy.
Her plan is this: the kids will decorate their own treat bags on the 12th, on the 14th they will pass out valentines and candies to each others' bags. My son will not be giving out any candy he himself cannot eat, of course. The teacher said she would take his bag after all the candy has been passed out, and remove unsafe candy and replace it with safe candy from her. I said that would be okay as long as everything is wrapped. That's how we handled Halloween - just accepted everything, then sorted it out later with no problems. But now I'm a little hesitant. I'm not sure I'll allow him to have ANY of the candy at all. We'll have plenty left over here at home from what we bought. My comfort zone is in limbo over this right now.
The comment: I asked the teacher if the kids were going to be washing their hands after handing out the candies. She didn't think it was necessary AND she said "Well, if he DOES have a reaction, we know it will only be a contact reaction, and we can give him Benadryl and wash him up." This is really eating at me. I just think that if a reaction - of ANY KIND - can be prevented, it should be. I haven't said anything about this to her yet. I am trying to think it through clearly first. My gut reaction is to tell her exactly how I feel, but I don't want to risk upsetting the way things have been so far - they really have been going the distance with this for us. What do you think?
BTW: The candies will not be eaten there - the bags will be taken home at the end of class.
Lam, that seems like a terrible thing for your child's teacher to say. She doesn't seem to understand that even a contact reaction can be dangerous. I agree that it does not seem like an acceptable situation if you are not comfortable with it. Are there going to be candies that definitely have nuts or may contains? If there are definitely going to be nuts, I would push for the hand washing at least. I would even push for no obvious nuts. Everyone has different comfort levels and you should follow your instincts. I think your request is very reasonable.
[This message has been edited by PattyR (edited February 04, 2001).]