holidays

food allergy gift ideas for kids

I’m here to share some food allergy gift ideas for kids. Let me start by saying, these gifts have nothing to do with food allergies. These items will work for just about any kid. For one reason or another, I’ve found the following items helpful to our life as it relates to food allergies. I’m here to tell you about that. I don’t want you to think Christmas should be about food allergies. It should be the complete opposite. I want Ollie to feel like every other child and be reminded of his allergies as little as possible. I’m also always a practical gift giver.

books are a great option for an allergy-friendly advent calendar

Thanksgiving is behind us and now we can move onto Christmas. I really think it is the most wonderful time of the year! I love walking around our downtown, sipping hot chocolate, and checking out all the cute little shops. This year feels extra special as Ollie LOVES Christmas. The little man has been asking for an “Ollie-sized” Christmas tree for months already. Our house is sure to be a Winter Wonderland. For me, a part of that includes an allergy-friendly advent calendar. I can still picture the advent calendar I had as a child. It was a big Santa that had numbered pockets on

toddler standing in front of the starts of his thankful tree

Halloween is behind us and just like that we are thrown into the next round of holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas can be hard when it comes to food allergies. For us, Christmas Eve is the most stressful as it involves a huge family gathering with a lot of unsafe food. Ollie has always been totally fine, but it’s just the one where I feel a little more on edge. None the less, it’s a favorite memory of mine as a child and we will make sure it can safely be the same for Ollie. During a sometimes crazy and stressful holiday season, I love this

toddler paints a teal pumpkin for their eco-friendly teal pumpkin project celebration

A fellow food allergy mom recently shared my Teal Pumpkin Project post on her Front Porch Forum. First, amazing! Second, one of the responses really got me thinking. This kind-hearted person replied back in support but with her own spin, an eco-friendly Teal Pumpkin Project. She spoke of all the plastic and waste that is involved in Halloween in general and challenged people to find ways to combat this while supporting the Teal Pumpkin Project. She shared a very creative list of her own. The unfortunate truth of being a parent in today’s world, food allergies or not, is that you may not be the most

Ollie (with a teal pumpkin bucket on his head) is excited about all the allergy-aware Vermont events happening this year!

October is here and with it comes a flurry of Halloween events. These celebrations can be a lot of fun, but also really difficult for families with food allergies. We try to make Ollie’s life as normal as possible, but there are surely big celebrations we’ve passed on attending as we weren’t sure how it would work with his allergies. This year, I reached out to as many events as I could to introduce the idea of the Teal Pumpkin Project and see if they’d be willing to incorporate it into their event. Below is a list of allergy-aware Vermont events happening this month! essex