There's a reputation that parents of kids with nut allergies have for being demanding. It's generally pretty unfair for the Moms and Dads who are just trying to protect their kids. But then there are parents like this one: a mom is on a crusade to have the oak trees around an elementary school removed because they drop, gasp, acorns.
Apparently making schools nut-free facilities isn't enough! We now have to fear school-aged children munching on yard debris.
Or, you know, we could just teach our kids not to eat things off the ground ... ? I know, I know, I'm expecting so much out of children who are old enough to wipe their own butts and zip their own pants!
Donna Giustizia, who has two kids with nut allergies, including one who attends St. Stephen Catholic Elementary School, started this wacky anti-tree campaign. She insisted to a local newspaper:
I’m not a crazy mom, I’m not asking for anything that’s not already there.
Ladies and gentleman, if you have to preface your statements with "I'm not a crazy mom," it's time to back up and re-evaluate. You probably are kind of crazy.
I am not saying that nut allergies don't exist. They are a very real and very scary thing for some families. But there's a certain amount of responsibility that comes with raising a child with an allergy. My daughter's 7-year-old friend very readily tells you that she cannot have anything with red dye 40 in it because her parents have a lick of sense and taught their daughter to be careful of what she eats.
Oak trees around a school are not akin to peanut butter sandwiches sniffed by a kid in the cafeteria. Acorns are not a risk to kids with nut allergies unless they are ingested. It's up to parents to instill a little sense in their kids, and that includes not picking something up off the playground and popping it in their mouth.
Then again, if your kid thinks eating acorns is acceptable behavior, the nut allergy may be the least of your problems ...
Do you have a child with a food allergy? Do you think this mom is crossing the line?
Image via aoimedia/Flickr
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Comments 40
"i'm not asking for anything that's not already there."
Her quote right there just blew me away. "anything that's already there"? those trees were there LONG before your precious snowflakes became students, lady. this is completely, 100% beyond ridiculous.
also interesting - i was just reading an article today that found a correlation between higher income families and those with nut allergies. in general, families with higher income were more at risk for peanut allergies, with boys and minorities leading that pack. and this woman is sending her kids to a private christian school. i'm not drawing any conclusions (others can do that for themselves) but i find it very interesting.
if she wants to that anal maybe she should wrap a plastic bubble around her house and homeschool. You know incase a squirrel drops a nut in her yard. I get that peanut allergies are usually pretty severe and life threatning. But if a kid is old enough to go to school, then he is old enough to tell people that he is allergic. I'm sure the teachers and nurses and staff know what to do, it's not like he is the only kid with a peanut allergy to ever walk the halls. I'm sure the kid even carries and epi-pen. Our job as parents is to teach our children to deal with the world around us and that we can't always get our way. Not that the world bows down to our will. Not sure I explained that right, but basically she needs to get over it.
Yes I do have a child with food allergies. It makes things a little difficult somethimes but I would not ask vegitarians to become meat eaters simply because my kid is allergic to soy. I wouldn't expect other kids at daycare not to eat apple slices, apple sauce, or drink apple juice just because that is on his allergy list. Yes you ARE A CRAZY MOM & entirely too demanding
Her kids are TEENAGERS! This woman is bat-poop crazy!