I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who dreams about pb! I sometimes imagine I am eating a Reece's pb cup. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
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Be safe,
~Dawn~

I eat peanuts when my son isn't around. I don't crave them the way I used to though. I think the more you eat of them the more you want them. In the beginning I missed them, but not any more.
I don't bring peanuts home, but I do let my non-PA daughter keep her peanut candy from Halloween and eat it. Peanut butter has been her favorite food since long before her brother was born. Too bad she has had to almost give it up. She gorges on pb at her friends' houses.
We do eat nuts and may-contains around my son but we always make sure he has something special. He loves it when we eat something he can't have, because he knows I'll say "yes" to anything safe!
We're not peanut-free, but we are guilt-free! I feel comfortable with how we do it and I find it pretty manageable.
[This message has been edited by Sandra Y (edited January 19, 2003).]

Peg,
Thank you for saying your kind words, when you post something you know that most people wouldn't agree with (especially at this time) you are a little leery of the outcome!
And I have to say thank you to Sandra for posting, just makes me feel better that someone else is guilt free and finds it manageable.
I would like to add that I don't let certain people (like my MIL) know that I eat pb in the house, b/c as someone posted earlier, I feel they wouldn't take the allergy that serious, and my MIL is already in major denial...This is somewhat hipocritical, I realize, but like I said, I know how carefully I clean up, and I dont trust anyone else to be as diligent.
Lana

I don't think that anybody should feel guilty. There is no right or wrong way to do things, only what one feels comfortable with for themselves and their family.
Andrea

Our home is completely nut-free and may contain free. I do not eat anything unsafe (except maybe the occasional bag of plain m&m's at work). I tried to eat a macadamia nut and white chocolate cookie at work during the holidays (yes my child is TNA as well) and actually felt sick to my stomach like I was going to throw up as soon as I could feel the nuts getting stuck in my molars. My mind was racing with things like "what if I cannot get all the nut out of my mouth and I accidentally forget and kiss my child and then I put him to bed and he has a reaction after he is asleep and it will be my fault...." I am sure others have been there. I decided a long time ago never to judge another parent-so more power to those of you that can do it safely and without as much guilt as I.
P.S.-My husband eats Snickers at work and brushes before he comes home.
Jaime

At one point, I had the rule that I would eat peanuts out of the house and only if I wasn`t seeing dd for at least four hours. That was after a guy posting on these boards that he ate pb on a bagel, waited three hours, then kissed his daughter and she had a reaction. It was a generalized reaction, not just a welt where he kissed her. Then someone posted an article saying that reactions had been reported six hours later from kissing. Then I figured we really don`t know how long is safe. We know six hours isn`t safe, is seven hours safe or eight hours or ten hours? Around this time was when dd had the reaction to the shared equipment (not stated on the packaging). So that coupled with the fact that we went through a problem with the mother of a "friend" of hers insisting on serving peanuts at a birthday party, and I really feel that is so selfish. So then I thought how can I eat peanuts and then tell dd that I can`t kiss her good night? I felt that it was selfish of me, so I gave up peanuts completely. Honestly after the reaction from the shared equipment, the thought of eating peanuts just fills me with anxiety and I just had no desire to. But then a couple of months ago dd spent the night at a friend`s. I wasn`t going to see her for 24 hours. I went to a book store to buy a book I needed, and all of a sudden it was like I had a radar for Reese`s. They had Reese`s by the register, and it hit me that since I wasn`t seeing dd for 24 hours I could actually eat it and not have to refrain from kissing her. So I ate it, and I had really forgotten how good they are! I thought it was so good that I emailed Vermont Nut Free and suggested that they make "soy butter cups" (imitation Reese`s). She said there wasn`t enough demand for it, so if anyone would like to eat imitation Reese`s please email Vermont Nut Free! Other than that one incident where dd was sleeping over at a friends, the thought of eating a Reese`s just fills me with so much anxiety, it just doesn`t appeal to me. I do eat may contains though, but not at home. I feel that the quantity of peanut is less, and if I do it early enough I don`t worry about kissing dd if I won`t be seeing her for a few hours.

I make imitation reeses all the time and they are excellent. They take hardly anytime to make. I posted the recipe under that section. Just made some last night as a matter of fact.
Jaime

once, on a long trip alone, i treated myself to a reeses (an old favorite of mine in my pre-PA days. haha) and i was so thrilled to find it was drier and much less exciting than i had remembered it to be. what a relief for me. now i don't feel quite so much like i'm missing out on that. still, i am going to try to make the soynutbutter cups jaime mentioned here - the kids might enjoy getting to taste them and, who knows, maybe so will i. joey

We have a peanut-free home (son is contact sensitive) but mainly because...and I apologize for you longtime members to have to read this story yet again...back when my house had peanut butter in it, DH and I were going out and my mom was coming to watch the kids. I made my daughter a PB&J sandwich; my son a jelly sandwich. In my haste, I [b]swapped their plates[/b] and my son, thinking his sandwich was safe, bit into it. He immediately started swelling...my DH grabbed the Epi-Pen and I dialed 911. The only thought that ran through my mind was "Oh my God, I just killed my own child." Needless to say, the jar of Peanut Butter went in the trash can and my house has been peanut free ever since. I figured if it was [b]that[/b] easy for me to do, imagine a sitter coming in and giving him the wrong food by accident. (He was very young when this happened but I have never had a peanut product in the house since).
I cannot eat peanut products...my daughter and I were in Atlanta this weekend and I still could not eat a peanut product and my son wasn't even with us.
My daughter eats peanut products away from home and washes her hands and brushes her teeth for safety.
I do want to say for those of you who do eat peanut products in your home or away from home, that is [b]your[/b] comfort zone. No two people handle it the same way. There may be similarities in the way we all do things, but everyone is different in their own special way. Continue to post the way you feel AND the way you do things. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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Stay Safe!
Connie