I’m afraid to say it really loudly without jinxing it… going back to school with our allergic child is going smoothly! 

First, I got an email a couple of weeks ago from the school principal checking which classes my allergic child had been in last year to see which additional classrooms she’d be in that would need the addition of hand sanitizers and soap for wash stations.  I think this was the first time I hadn’t had to initiate contact to make sure that all of the basic hygiene issues we have insisted on were in place for her return to school.

Second, I’ve always created a poster for my child each year that is posted in all of her classrooms, staff room, etc. which familiarize all staff with what her allergies are, what she looks like (simple but necessary) and what steps to take in the case of a suspected allergic reaction.  Last year, the vice principal was so taken with the poster that I’d created for my child that she used it as a model to create a similar poster for all of the children with health issues in the school.  Only the life-threatening health issues are posted, the rest of the childrens’ information goes into a binder for staff.   This is the first year I haven’t had to create my own poster as the vice principal contacted me  to see whether any of our health issues had changed (they have, we need to now add chickpeas to the list of foods to avoid).  So that’s all done with me doing nothing in that regard.

When the  phone discussion with the vice principal veered to my child’s new teachers and staff training on anaphylaxis and the use of the epi-pen, I was pleased to find out that a district-wide staff training day would take place next week and then the following staff meeting had anaphylaxis and training on the agenda.  I offered to send in the epi-pen trainer and an old epi-pen for the staff meeting so that’s all been taken care of.

While it was agreed that the letter I pen each year to the parents of my child’s classmates (including homeroom where she eats her lunch) would go out again along with my list of suggestions for the multitude of friendly foods/snacks that can be brought to the classroom, that’s all I needed to do. 

I’m not sure what to do with myself.  It all seems too easy – I keep racking my brain to see what I’ve missed.  I don’t appear to be missing anything, could it really be that easy?  Just in case, I’m knocking on wood.