scared preschool day

Hi beachmom,
Welcome. If you check out the "Schools" forum you may see lots of advice, such as how to deal with the classroom environment, 504 plans, etc. Good luck [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

If you really sit down and have a conference with the Adminstrators and the teacher, ( bring in all the FAAN stuff off the internet), and explain everything thourghly, (peanut free Classroom, own lunch table, No snacks with any peanut products) They may just listen. Kill them with kindness. Don't ever get angry, just keep reminding them, dive it in hard!!

Hi
I can totally relate to your fears. My PA son is in pre-school and it is scary to say the least. It is frustrating to speak with people who have no idea what you are going through. Last year all the moms in my sons class were wonderful. This year has been a nightmare. For halloween someone sent in a bag with BabyRuths in it for him. A notice was sent home to all the parents reminding them of Max's severe allergy. For the Christmas party I handled all the food so I would be sure Max was safe. For Valentines day someone sent him home hershey nuggets with almonds and someone else gave him gummy bears that specifically said "processed on the same equiptment as peanut products". I wanted to scream!!!! I just can't wait to see what comes for the Easter party!!!!
I dont understand why people dont understand the severity of this allergy but they dont. Ignorance, maybe but I would like to hope that is not the case.
My son has one more year of preschool and then he will be in kindergarten too. I a mreally scared too. I am sure this will be a whole new group to educate and filled with uphill battles but I intend to fight the battle the whole way for Max.
Snce the allergy to peanuts/nuts is on the rise I am hearing more and more schools are banning nut products all together. Lets hope so. That would take alot of the fear out of letting Max go to school.
Know that you are not alone in your struggle and I hope everything goes well for you and your family in kindergarten.
Good luck
Julie

It's a scary thing! My son starts preschool next year and I'm real nervous about it.
When my 5 year old daughter (not PA) was in preschool, they had a "no nuts" policy and even so there were coutless times that I went through her school bag after Halloween, Valentines Day etc. only to find many, many items the a peanut alert on them. Now that she is in kindergarten, she has come home with her snack that she didn't finish in school that has peanuts, granted her kindergarten class does not have a "nut free" policy. But I am very anxious for when my son goes starts school.
I think the problem is that at my daughter's preschool and kindergarten they have the parents supply snack, and even though parents may have been told "no nuts," they just don't take it seriously. And really who can blame them, I have relatives that don't take my son's PA seriously. How can I expect a total stranger to understand? I think you really have to be in the thick of it to completely understand the seriousness.

I can totally relate. I dealt with two years of preschool, kindergarten and we're in the middle of first grade now. It's been frustrating.
Just recently my son had to sit and watch everyone make fruit loop necklaces because the teacher who planned the activity in advance was too lazy to call me and ask if he could participate. It was easier to just sit him elsewhere and make him count blocks.
My school is very backwards. They do not send home notes informing parents. They do NOT incorporate a peanut table. I've been picking him up since September and letting him eat in the car (pointless to go home, by the time we get there we have to turn around and go back.) But when temperatures dipped into the teens, I felt it was ridiculous to expect him to eat in the car wearing a poofy coat.
Their excuse for not having a peanut allergic table was that our school is very small and he would be the only one at it, although there is another child in his class allergic to peanut. They said he would hate it, he would feel punished.
Well recently he has begun eating in school more and more. He wants to be with his friends. He said he has gotten up and sat at an empty table on his own if he thinks other kids are eating PB. No one has stopped him. And they better not try. Guess they found out people with peanut allergy would rather sit alone then next to peanut butter.
They have no handwashing policy, and even made me sign something that says they are not responsible for what happens to him in school, whether they administer epipen or not. I am thoroughly disgusted with the system.
The nurse assured me they do "all they can". I said, "Apparently not. How can I believe you do all you can when OTHER communities send notes home to parents, ban peanut from the lunchroom, and provide peanut free tables?" She didn't know what to say. I show up at all the class parties and trips even though I'm not class mother. So far no one has tried to stop me. I often bake treats even when I don't have to just so I know my son has something I sent. And at EVERY party, he is given a goody bag containing some kind of peanut. But he already knows never to eat anything from the bags until I look. So far he's been great about that.