Monday, October 20, 2008
The people at AT&T have gone a little nuts with their Halloween treat suggestions this year. I was flipping through my e-mail when a Halloween treats guide popped up. As soon as I saw the first "kids treat mix" containing almonds, I just had to see what else they were offering as "kid" Halloween treats.
Several recipes had peanut butter or peanuts--these were specifically under the "treats for school aged kids" section of their Halloween Treats Guide for parties.
Um, OK. What's up with that??? Just about everyone with school-aged kids knows to stay away from the peanuts. Just today, my youngest daughter went to her new friend's house for a lunch play date. (My youngest does not have any food allergies.) The new friend lives just down the block from us. As they were getting ready to walk to her house, she asked me if my child had any dietary restrictions or allergies.
Most moms I meet now ask this if they are planning to serve the kids any food. I know of almost no classrooms at my daughter's elementary school that does not contain at least one child who is allergic to nuts. And food allergies have been all over the news lately, especially as Halloween approaches.
So why is this online magazine telling you to stick nuts in everything for kids?? I have no clue. So here's my suggestion, learned the hard way after our neighborhood block party's "peanut hunt" a couple of weeks ago: Tell EVERYBODY about your child's nut allergy. Tell them right when you get the invite to the Halloween party or play date. Assume nothing!!!
Give people all the info they need so they can avoid their version of nutty "Fright Bites" or what have you. Then you can avoid Halloween drama that you didn't bargain for.
With all the food allergies out there, I really don't get why magazines and newspapers are still pushing nuts for the little kids.
Have any of you seen this type of thing lately in the print media or online? I tend to notice this stuff more than most would, but I bet there's some other stuff out there. Let me know what you find.