Hello soap box

Please bear with me I need to vent.  I avoid my soap box at all cost, doing the best I can to be non-coconfrontational and all that mess but this morning I read an article that just really pissed me off.  It was an article on how a teacher took a kids PB&J sandwich, helped him get another lunch and sent a note home to the parents to please don't send a PB&J again.  Why did she take the sandwich you may ask (or you read the article and know why).  She had a student in her class with a sever peanut allergy.  What is my take on the situation?  KUDOS TEACHER!!!!!  However, as you can imagine in today's society, this has sparked a whirlwind discussion and even a Facebook page,  on how it's just not right. 

For those of you reading that don't personally know me, may wonder why this is such a touchy subject with me.  Well it is super simple.  Thing 1 has a sever potentially life threatening peanut allergy.  To the extent that none of us eat peanut butter, or peanuts because of fear of cross contamination. 

Thankfully his school is peanut free.  However other kids bring things in from home such as PB&J sandwiches.  Thing 1 can not be around it, because of the above mentioned reason.  What does he do on days this happens...he has to eat in the office.  While I am extremely thankful for the fact that his school has a plan in place, it sucks that he can't eat with his best friend on those days.  I will say though that he hasn't had to eat in the office much in the last two years.  We have done our best to educate the teachers and they in turn talk to the students and make it clear that Thing 1 is more important than peanut butter sandwiches.

For some reason peanut allergies spark controversy very easily.  More than any other allergy that I know of.  I don't know if because parents are more diligent in making others aware or if it just becoming more common place.  But this allergy is on the rise and let me just tell you, it is scary. 

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me for it to even be an issue.  Why put a child at risk ?  Does a parent not have enough to stress about with kids in school?  Why add to that stress worrying about having to rush to the hospital because of an allergic reaction? 

Let me just say to all the non-allergy folks.  Count your blessings.  Thank your lucky stars.  The fear always sits in the back of my mind that if something happens and my child comes in contact with peanuts; if things are not done exactly how they should be my son will die.  No I am not being dramatic or overly cautious.  I am being real.  Something as simple as a tiny spot of peanut butter on the edge of a table could potentially kill my child.  Is that something that you would want to risk and be the person that caused a child to lose his life and a parent to have to grieve the lose of a child just because you don't want to be bothered with worrying about what to pack your kid for lunch.

Instead of trying to cast the child out of the lunch room like a leper, why not step back and think for just a minute.  Is a stupid sandwich really more important than a child's life?