Thursday, April 25, 2013

My "A HA" Allergy Moment


It seems Spa Parties are all the rage for 6 grade girls in our area. Katie got invited to her second spa birthday party a couple weeks ago. This time they decided to do their hair, make up and nails. No dairy-free chocolate masks to worry about. So off we went with her leftover non-dairy pizza, her Swirlz cupcake, and her Epi-pen and Benadryl.

I dropped Katie off with a barely heard “goodbye Mom” over the screaming of ten 6th grade girls. Was I ever like that?  Two hours later with makeup, hair curled, and blue sparkle nail polish on, it was time to head home. The host came up to me and said that she was impressed that Katie was so good with her allergies because she knew just what she could and could not eat. This is not the first time I have heard this from some parent or teacher but it is the first time that I really felt like she really did not need my help! The host went on to say that Katie seemed so grown up and independent for her age. You go, girl!

That’s when it occurred to me that I just had my first “A HA" Allergy Moment. I know I should have felt a bit sad that our little girl was growing up and did not seem to need us. Instead, I felt proud that Katie had accomplished something that we had been striving for since she was in second grade. Confidence. Independence. Maturity. 

It seemed that all those years of reading label after label, all those scenes we roll played over and over again and all those cooking lessons with Mom had finally paid off. In spite of her severe food allergies, our Katie IS now a confident, independent young girl. Or maybe she has become this way, in part, because of her food allergies!

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