Sorry Buddy, Mommy did not mean to poison you

My little boy has what is considered a potentially life threatening allergy. He is allergic to peanuts. Peanut allergic reactions can range from mild to fatal. He falls somewhere in the middle.

I discovered he had this allergy when he was about 11 months old. I now know it was probably not a good idea to feed him peanut butter cookies, but in my defense they were home made and de-lish-e-oh-so! After all Moms tend to make their favorite cookies, and mine definitely are peanut butter!

The initial reaction happened something like this...

Put chubby little baby Charlie Brown in his highchair-that is who he looked like. I'd load and actual picture but after the massive PC crash of 2006--I do not have one! At the time we were living in a temporary home while our home was for sale. After all, what kind of moron wants to try to sell a house you live in with your 11 month old twins and a 3 year old? Not me. Fortunate we were, because my grandmother had a rental they were getting ready to flip that we could borrow for a few months.

Fussy baby needed a snack so Mom can get something done. Fresh peanut butter cookies will do the trick, who knew you weren't supposed to give babies peanut butter...NOT ME! I know, I know...this was before my adventures in nursing school.
I am way smarter now! Did I just see my Mom smirk?

Fussy baby becomes swollen baby...hmmm, quick thinking on Mom's part. Look around and wonder what he is reacting to. Old lead paint falling off the ceiling, spring time pollen, dust, something in the cookie? Either way, remedy came in the form of a dose of benadryl.

I wondered and wondered all day and night...what could it be?

My solution was this...next day move highchair to someplace with less paint falling down and offer him another cookie. Guess what? I don't have to tell you do I? Well it was not the paint that made is eyes swell it was the peanuts...I do not think I have made peanut butter cookies since then. Sad for me.

That story leads into the tag line for my post...

Yesterday, when I made the kids lunches, I nearly killed my son. I gave him his sisters peanut butter sandwich... I go through this every morning. I make his sandwich first so I do not cross contaminate any of the containers. I then put his sandwich in his lunch bag before I start the others.

I double and triple check myself. I am a bit OCD about making sure his lunch is safe. What happened? I am not sure, I think I just made a mistake. Lucky for me he realized it immediately and spit his first bite out. He had no significant reaction. Lucky me, that would have been really a tough thing to live with. I can laugh now but man, what would I have done? God smiled on me and I am grateful!

Today they all got tuna fish! After all, the last thing I want is for him to think Mommy has it in for him. Imagine the call I would get from the school nurse, "Hi Trevor's Mom, we had to use his Epi-Pen today because you gave him a peanut butter sandwich in his lunch. You do remember he is allergic to peanuts, don't you?"

How long do you think it would it take CPS to get to my house?