Yesterday, Jax came home from baseball practice covered in hives. Huge big welts everywhere! Stephen shrugged it off and said it hadn't looked that bad so he had not brought him home earlier. His lips were not swollen and his tongue looked fine. I am certain it is just from grass (and not from peanuts) so I gave him Benadryl and sent him to shower then to bed.

He was hive-free this morning. I was going to give him some Zyrtec but since it makes him drowsy I decided to wait until tonight. I received a call from the school shortly after 1pm telling me that Jax was covered in hives and asking if I could come in and give him some Benadryl. I rushed over there and found him sitting all forlorn in the health office. I gave him the Benadryl and he said he wanted to go back to class so I walked him to his classroom. I told his teacher that he was fine and wanted to stay.

I know in the whole scheme of things, allergies are not that bad (he could have some serious illness). But kids do not like to be different. Jax was not concerned that he was covered in hives. It was the fact that another kid in his class noticed and made a big deal about it. Jax just calmly walked over to his teacher and said "I need to go to the office to get some Benadryl".

~~ MINI RANT HERE ~~ WTF do they not have anyone at the school to administer his meds? Aaargh! They have a bottle of Benadryl (plus his epi-pen) and two letters from the allergist explaining when and how much to dose. Grrr! /MINI RANT

And since I am on the topic of allergies, I found out at our last book club that one of the other mom's also has a peanut-allergic child. However, Peanut Mom has decided not to keep a peanut-free house because "My daughter needs to live in the real world". (Oh and that giving up peanut butter would be so hard on her). My eyes probably popped out of my head when she said that. I completely understand that yes, children do need to learn to live with and manage their allergy out in the "real world" but I feel it is important for me that my son feel safe in his own home. Anyway, I just shrugged Peanut Mom off as an allergy whack and I knew that we would never have playdates so what she chooses to do is her problem. I was not preachy but I was confident and firm with my position.

Another book club friend, T, called me up today and told me that Peanut Mom was considering not coming to book club anymore because of our differences and she thinks she offended me. WTF? T had missed book club so she could not really comment so I called another book club friend and asked her if I gave the impression that I was angry with Peanut Mom. My friend, who I know would be completely straight with me, told me no but she thought that Peanut Mom was a whack too for keeping peanut butter around (my friend also deals with food allergies in her family but not peanuts).

So I decided that I had better call up Peanut Mom.

Me: Hello Peanut Mom
Peanut Mom: Hello Pez
Me: Peanut Mom, T told me that you were considering not coming to bookclub anymore because you think you offended me.
PM: Yes, I thought what I said bothered you and I thought you became defensive.
Me: DID NOT! (kidding here I really said):
I don't know why you got that impression. I know you have one view on the issue and I have another. I don't think that means that we cannot be in the same book club.
PM: I just don't want my presence to make you uncomfortable at book club.
Me: We just have a different view about dealing with this food allergy. While I admit I do not agree with or understand your view (I inserted a small chuckle here to let her know that I was not a complete bitch), it is not something that should be an issue at our book club unless you don't respect my peanut-free household and bring peanuts to my home.
PM: I had another friend who had a peanut allergic child and our friendship was lost over our different views. (<--so this was the real issue)
Me: I am sorry that happened to you.
PM: Thank you. I just did not want to feel I could not state my opinions and make you uncomfortable.

So then the conversation basically ended there and I think things are ok with us. At least I don't have a problem with her as long as she doesn't mention peanuts and "real world" again! lol