What Situations/Places Do You Now Want to Avoid Because of PA?

We don't go to Dairy Queen at all now, because the last time we did and I questioned the owner/manager, she basically rudely told me that nothing was safe and if she were the mother she wouldn't bring her kid in the restaurant.
No sympathy at all.
The other thing we avoid is 7 pm and 9 pm movies. There's so much crap on the floors and seats and all around that I don't feel comfortable. We do matinees, first showing if possible. Sometimes it's a nuisance, but mostly it's just CHEAPER!
We also AVOID potluck suppers, which in a small town really cuts into our social life. When we do go, we rearrange the tables so that no desserts with obvious nuts are near us, and put our DD at the end of the table with her own food. Not much fun.
There's probably a million other things we avoid, but because we've been doing it for almost 10 years, I don't notice any more!

OK, this goes without saying, but I avoid Indian and Thai restaurants like the plague! Also Mexican, Mozambique etc, etc! I only feel safe with Italian and regular (not nationality themed) restaurants - once they have been grilled first! Perhaps most of these restaurants don't use nuts, I don't really know, I should really research their cuisine.....
This is getting more of an issue for me nowadays because all of the above restaurants have become very popular, the latest trend so to speak, and bunches of people have to change venue just for me [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/redface.gif[/img] They don't mind, but I always feel a little awkward when the suggestions are made and I have to pipe up with "Sorry, we can't go there". Of course I'd rather tell them before we book anywhere than take any chances.

I'm worried about Fenway Park in Boston and the Swan Boats in the public garden (boats you sit in and a guy pedals you around in the water). Both have piles of peanuts around and both are very fun things I enjoyed as a child.

We don't avoid DQ, however I would NEVER EVER let Taran have toppings....I still feel safe allowing him to have a plain cone however. I have always told them that he is PA before ordering and they are very co-operative about washing their hands first, in case they may have recently made something with peanuts.
I do avoid all chinese restaurants and it seems to be the big trend around here lately for these new "family" type restaurants to put a bowl of peanuts on every table and then people just eat them and throw the shells all over the floor. First time we walked unknowingly into one of these places, we just about fell over! UNBELEIVABLE! Now I don't go to a new place without calling first. If we are somewhere and have to eat we go to the old stand-by, McD's.
I also don't feel comfortable with anything at a buffet style restaurant, no matter what kind of food they serve, almost all of them have desserts of some sort that I wouldn't trust.

Like Heather, I would avoid taking my DD to a baseball stadium. I have tickets to an Indians game tomorrow, but I am not taking her, sadly. I know she would love to go, but it's not worth the risk. I remember being at a game a few years ago and seeing peanut skin flying down on us from upper seats. I should probably change my clothes before I come back into the house tomorrow after the game.
As for DQ, we go there. But I would never let her get a blizzard!

this all points back to the other thread "comfort zones". I am NOT comfortable bringing DS to DQ but we do. We get the soft serve chocolate and bolt out of there, having it outside the store. I will never set foot inside an asian restaurant with DS, but when I am at work I do go to a chinese restaurant occasionally myself. There is a homemade ice cream parlor that we will go to by us because they do not serve anything with peanuts. The only thing they have is butter pecan ice cream and the owner/ice cream maker assures us that everything is taken apart and cleaned thoroughly. There is another homemade ice cream parlor that is very popular by us that I will not go to if you gave it to me for free. Too many peanut products and it is so busy, I know everything must be cross-contaminated. Too bad because I went to high school with the owner and I would like to support local businessess but my sons life is at stake here. Well thats my 2 cents! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] Fran

We avoid every ice cream parlor/italian ice stand and McDonald's. I can't even remember the last time the family went to a real, sit-down restaurant either. We used to go to Olive Garden, Applebee's, and the like all the time. Occasionally, I miss the convenience, but really don't miss the food all that much. And the big plus is it helps keep money in my pocket too.
Also, we never went to our local community fair before, but now we'll definitely avoid it because of PA. I read in the paper last year they have one of those awful roasted peanut stands that you can smell all over the fair.

Since Tucker is our only child and only 2-1/2, it has not been much of a problem to avoid places and situations. I'm sure this will change as he gets older, but here goes...
First, we do not allow any peanut products into our house, so we can consider it his only safe haven. We avoid all fast food joints (we never went to them ourselves anyway). We seldom go to restaurants with him and carefully select the restaurant when we do. We don't go to ice cream parlors. We stopped attending all church picnics and dinners--they always seemed to have p.b. sandwiches or ice cream bars with nuts available, not to mention not knowing what ingredients people use in their cooking. I always dreamed of Tucker being a baseball star, but now I don't know if I will ever bring him to a stadium. We will attend all birthday parties with him, and ask questions before hand. We do not allow him to play at other children's houses--we invite his friends to our house instead. We avoid playlands like at Chuck E Cheese's, though we do allow him on outdoor playgrounds. The nursery school is only allowed to feed him items brought from home, even for parties. We will never buy the school-prepared lunch.
The list could go on and on. Some of my friends have mentioned the "Bubble Boy" concept, but I do NOT think we are overdoing it. We still get out and Tucker has lots of playmates. I don't feel I am depriving him by not feeding him junk food or fast food--I want to promote a healthy lifestyle!
Just my take on the thing...it is interesting to hear everyone's different ways of handling the situation.

ryan's Mom - why did you stop going to the restaurants you mentioned? We like going to all of them, and I was just wondering if you had a specific bad experience?

Concerned Mom,
No, we never had a bad experience at those places. Wait, I just remembered, one time we left Olive Garden and he had a coughing fit on the way back. However, he may have had dessert there on that occasion--possible cross contamination and we had no clue about PA at the time so no precautions were taken. It's just that when my son was diagnosed at three, we just didn't feel he could communicate well with us what he was feeling. Even now, I don't know if I could rely on his answers because he gets goofy at times. He'll start blinking his eyes real weird to be funny or just start coughing to cough like his brother. I know some people avoid all restaurants like fast food ones too, but we have had nothing but successful visits at our local Burger King, so we stick with that.
For us it's just a comfort zone thing. No bad experiences that we can really pinpoint, but he's just not old enough to really communicate how his body if feeling. I'm not ruling out going to these places altogether, but I'll make breadsticks and buy his chicken and fries from Burger King if we do in the near future.