Oh Lisa please educate me. I'd love to come to one of your very informative lectures on Peanut Allergies.
[This message has been edited by Peg541 (edited January 18, 2003).]

I forgot to mention that I will never be so undereducated in PA as was stated by the person that posted "College Bound" that I would make such an insenitive remark about PA adults; "I thought they were all dead", then jokingly admit to being a nurse implying that she was surrounded by medical resources to find out for herself, and who put her on the track to finding to finding PA.com &/or other resources before her son turned 18 to learn how to prepare him for college.

Oh Peg,
I don't think I can do that since I educate myself by using the links on this website.

Peg,
Claire's original question on another thread was one that was personal, and she was asking if my daughter has ever had a peanut reaction and how many times. I am still giving her the opportunity to have these questions answered through my e-mail.
Claire, don't be afraid to contact me...I will not be rude to you.
Also Peg, I never have or felt as if I had to do special favors for school staff and I don't want other people to think they have to do special favors. I directed the District Superintendent & the school principal to this website 4 (FOUR) YEARS AGO when my daughter began kindergarten. They have educated themselves and continue to do so because they also learned from this website (hopefully they will never come to this discussion board, I would not want them to see incohesiveness amongst PA parents) that the # of those w/food allergies is growing. Even though it has been a slow & difficult process for the District Nutritionist w/whom I have always worked w/amicably, this year the district has been able to afford to purchase small toys & Skittles as a special treat for school lunches. In past years they purchased M&Ms & Twix bars because the manufacturers offered them at incrediably low prices.
The only reason I was able to accomplish this was by directing this issue to the people that could make an impact. First I had to educate myself in PA including that of social graces,improve my writing & verbal skills so that I did not appear to be "controlling" or "whiny". It allowed them to know "clearly" just how serious & how important the issue of food allergies is. We have respect for one another because we work together; I do not work against them. At the beginning of every school year, the principal directs PA/FA parents to me to work on an individual safety plan for their child in regards to their "comfort zone", then I would direct them to this website. I talk w/all parents when I wait for my children to be let out of school, at the cross walk, in the library, etc. I make it a point to talk w/parents whose child has a PA/FA classmate. In addition, I make opportunities to talk w/people in grocery stores & other stores that sell food such as Target, K-mart, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, McDonalds, etc. I do this by drawing attention to the fact that I am reading a label, & I allow them to know the reason.
The more PA/FA Awareness that is being made in society, the faster changes are likely to occur. However, the only downside of this issue for some PA parents & PA people is that the more awareness there is the more society will be able to recognize personality traits in PA parents & PA people that are not conducive to this movement.
By the way Peg, why did your son start school in January rather then September when most people move into dorms & they have already established rules? If a peanut free zone has been established in the community area of the dorm, what is the punishment one will receive for breaking that rule? Is there a different punishment for this rule? What if a student is reprimanded for breaking this rule & it angers other parents who pay for their child to live in the dorm?
Etc, etc, etc, etc.
As you can see, I don't mind being a minority in my beliefs, because my PA daughter is a minority and I will always stand with her.

Another downside of PA/FA Awareness for some people is that members of society will also be able to recognize an educated PA parent from an uneducated PA parent.
If one is an uneducated PA parent in regards to social graces, one is more apt to make mistakes. Some people are understanding when a PA parent is learning how to do ask accommodations. Some people are not forgiving at all, and they may ignore one completely & choose to believe that they are a--h---s therefore sending a message that "we" are all like that. At my daughter's school we had one such PA parent that behaved like a martyr & used her child's PA as an excuse to behave as one. This was very annoying to the school staff, and it made it very difficult for me to talk to them. Trust had to be first established between me & the principal; he had to work hard at putting his prejudices aside of this other PA parent. Once he did that, he educated himself & his staff by using this website, which he still does. Every parent can do this if they approach it with good graces, & by asking for realistic accommodations &/or asking first what their guidelines are for accommodating a PA child.
I am currently working w/GSUSA (Girl Scouts)
to implement PA/FA Awareness into their education services for Leaders & Councils. To prove that a problem of non-awareness exists in Girl Scouts throughout the US, I will need to provide them w/proof. I had initally thought about posting a topic for everyone to respond to w/the problems they have incurred within GS, however, due to my name being on topics that received negative attention, and my name being used in other topics, I believe this goal will be immediately defeated.
If you are interested in supporting this goal for your daughter & future girl scouts, please refer to my topic "GS cookies ?" It will give you a contact name, however, I will now ask that you state what problem you incurred since I cannot use this discussion board for GSUSA to refer to.
You don't have to like me or accept my beliefs to support this issue of implementing PA/FA Awareness in Girl Scouts. It is for your daughter & future girl scouts whether they join or not; at the very least both parent & child will be given a choice that they can expect some measure of safety.
Thank you for your support.

Lisa,
I believe that every PA is different; therefore, there is no ONE way to handle it across the board. Is this what you also believe, or no?

Hi Lam,
I'm sorry I don't understand your question, is it regards to GS? I might not be able to get back her for a day or two, otherwise e-mail me, okay.

Lisa, when I read "between the lines" of what you say: you sound just like the rest of us: a mom of a pa kid who wants to educate herself, her pa child, and other parents, school administrators, etc. This is [b]exactly[/b] what this board is about. I don't know why you have chosen to set yourself apart from the rest of us by attacking Peg the way you have.
Also, the questions Claire had asked you were [b]exactly[/b] the type of things we all discuss here. It seems odd that you have utilized this board for four years, yet you have (apparently) never shared any of your personal experiences (as a mom of a pa kid).
I think you are very wise to stop referring people that you know to this board. Do you think they would see all the negative posts about you and decide that all of the rest of us are the ones with a problem? I am honestly not trying to be mean, but if you are so good at what you do (communicating and sharing information) why do you think you have alienated so many of us?
As for Peg. I really wish you would stop harrassing her. For goodness sake: she is a mom who has come to this site for support. If you don't have any to offer (which is clear), [b]leave[/b] [b]her[/b] [b]alone[/b]! And no, I don't wonder a bit why she deleted and/or edited her previous posts. She was villified by you. We're lucky she's decided to stay around at all. Also, my impression is that Peg and her son are doing the "leg work" now for Fall enrollment; not that he is starting school in January.
I hope you'll think about what I've said.

Cindy, if anyone can't tell what an unbelievably kind, caring, giving and unassuming person you are, then they haven't paid much attention to what you've written in your many thousands [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] of postings. Hugs, and try not to worry. You are loved by the masses! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] Miriam