They GET it!!

Had the most incredible day today! The sun was shining and it was a balmy 47 degrees farenheit, too [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'll try not to drag this post out too long for you.

My son starts Kindergarten this coming Fall. I had an appointment with the Principal of the Elementary School that he will be attending. The reason for the meeting was to get an idea of what procedures were in place regarding peanut allergies.

My main goals were to eliminate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the school menu, to have at least 1 epi-pen near him (not comfortable just yet with him carrying it on his person) and to make sure that he doesn't eat any snacks that I have not sent for him. Those were my basic goals for the meeting.

I couldn't believe how I received such a warm reception from this principal. She was very down to earth and very easy to talk to.

I have many things going through my head about this meeting I really don't know where to start and it will be difficult for me to express how exactly the meeting went but here goes.

We discussed many things but will only touch base on the key items.

First, she told me that they do not serve peanut butter in the school system any longer. They had a little girl last year who was described as having a severe allergy to peanuts and could not even be in the same room as a peanut, etc. etc. So the school took it upon themself to remove all peanuts and peanut butter products from their menu. (the parents didn't even have to ask--the school offered!) Their reason: Why NOT remove it? "It's only a peanut!" Not a big deal--let's just remove it from our menu in order to make the school a safer place for this child!! If it will help, then we will do it!!

I was told that all the families were notified of the severity and had absolutely NOT ONE PARENT complain about it!!! In fact, they had some children who were not allergic to peanuts suddenly want to remove peanut products from their OWN home out of respect for this little girl!

I was amazed and my eyes started to tear up as I thought that I would have a struggle getting this out of the school system. What a HUGE relief it was for me to hear those words and my heart skipped a few beats as well.

They replaced the PB&J sandwich with cheese sandwiches. These sandwiches are actually not on the regular menu but are only offered when a student forgets their lunch at home.

Next was the Epi-pen issue. I didn't even have to ask. She asked me what I preferred: was Ethan going to be wearing it or if I wanted I could keep one with the REGISTERED NURSE [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] or with his teacher in the classroom.

BTW, this particular public school has 2 full time registered nurses. One of them is also a certified school nurse as well. When we were walking out of the principal's office she introduced me to one of the nurses. When the principal told her that my son would be attending next year and he has a peanut allergy the nurse looked at me, took my hand and said that he will be very safe at their school. [there was more that was said but my mind is jumping all over the place]

There are over 500 students in this elementary school (K - 5th grade). There will be a list of all children with allergies as well as a picture of what each child looks like. The list will be in EVERY classroom, gym room, etc. as well so that everyone knows.

As far as snacks--in Kindergarten they actually don't do snacks at all. The only food items that are brought into the classroom are from the parents to celebrate the children's birthdays. I said that I would be providing Ethan with all of his snacks for these birthday parties and that I would be comfortable with him being in the room when the other kids were eating their snacks that were "May Contain" PROVIDED that the snacks didn't have peanut butter smeared all over it and peanuts were not present. She then said that they will make sure that all snacks will be peanut free.

I am completely comfortable with Ethan being around "May Contain" items. That is my "comfort zone".

Much more was discussed but my brain is somewhat tired at the moment. The meeting was a huge success and we are planning on having another meeting at the end of the year to sit down with his teacher. Registration is in 2 weeks and I'm very excited! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]