Fine Arts Week

While the topic of food allergies has become a major area interest for me in recent years, so has the fine art of writing - children’s literature and otherwise. This is why I am so thankful to Ms. Finnegan for recently inviting me to participate in a writer’s panel discussion during Fine Arts Week at Middleton High School.

Joined by three other newspaper columnists and sports writers, it was really kinda cool to see that whatever the genre, our advice to the students was essentially the same: write what you love, work hard, and revise, revise, revise!

Many thanks to the teachers, students and panelists for their interest and enthusiasm!

Emergency Action Plans

It’s that time of year again when my 1^st grader starts coming home and telling us about the fire drills (and sometimes tornado drills) they often conduct at her elementary school. Many businesses also take time out to do crisis management drills and run mock emergency action plans every now and then. Which is why a few years ago, I came up with idea for our family to start doing our own surprise Epi-Pen drills, just to help keep us on our toes.

My daughter Mollie gets to be in charge of deciding when she tests us by acting out the symptom(s) of her choice and seeing how we respond. This typically involves her shouting, "uh oh, I think I ate a peanut!" which is enough to send us into action. We check on her and ask a series of questions, such as "Do you have hives? Are you breathing ok? Are you throwing up? Are you experiencing swelling or shortness of breath?" etc. She gets to decide the answers and we respond accordingly. It's a great way to ensure our Epi Pens and phones (for calling 911) are always charged and where they should be. It's also a great way to run through the procedure for giving her a shot if needed, which we always use our Epi-Pen trainer for.

If you haven't done this before, I highly recommend giving it a try, and extending it beyond family to other caregivers, babysitter, parents, etc. I guarantee, someone will walk away learning something new. Most recently, my friend (who often hosts Mollie on play dates in her home) was surprised to find you can administer the shot directly through clothing. These little details, along with developing a physical memory of what to do in a crisis situation, help empower and prepare everyone involved!

Book Drive

Spring is officially here and I for one am psyched! There’s something about the fresh air and sunshine that actually make me feel more energetic and motivated … to deep clean my house. Yes, I have big plans for Spring Cleaning this year, including some serious purging of surplus toys and books that are scattered about every room of our home.

Which is why I was so excited to learn of the The Half Pint Book Drive currently underway. Across the U.S., Half Price Books stores are working to collect and distribute children’s books to those in need. New and gently used books donated through this program help provide inspiration for children from low-income families, while helping to boost literacy skills outside of school. In many cases, children are getting their first book through the Half Pint program. The drive accepts any type of children’s book, including Spanish language books, as long as they are in good condition. The program is now in its 12th year and has collected more than 2 million books for community centers, special schools and many more children in need.

The Half Pint Book Drive ends March 31st. If you’re like me, I know you have at least a few (or more than a few) children’s books that are worth sharing and passing on. Visit Half Price Books to find a neighborhood drop-off location near you.

Literacy 24/7

Many thanks to my new friends at the Literacy Network for including me in last week's Literacy 24/7 line-up! It was truly a pleasure to be included in such a great event. I met some adorable kids and lost count of all the yummy allergy-friendly cookies I ate provided by Enjoy Life Foods. I highly recommend the Gingerbread Spice ... a must for any pantry, even for families without food allergies!

My favorite part (aside from meeting all the wonderful people who came out to hear a reading of The BugaBees at Willy Street Co-op) was meeting award-winning author Kevin Henkes. His picture books, in a word, are AMAZING and our family absolutely loves them all. It was an honor for me to chat with him a bit, and guess what? He shared with me that while growing up, his brothers had food allergies. Yet again, another reminder that the topic of food allergies is relevant and universal pretty much wherever you go.

Although the week of Literacy 24/7 has come to a close, fundraising for this important cause still continues. The Literacy Network organization is a broad collection of community members comprised of more than 400 volunteers, 1,200 learners and 30 partner agencies working to improve reading, writing and language skills in Dane County. Please consider supporting their noble efforts with a donation today. Open a book. Change a Life. Support literacy programs in your neighborhood.

Read Across America

Happy Read Across America Day! And thanks to all the students at St. Francis Xavier school for a wonderful author visit. One of my favorite things we did in honor of Reading Awareness Month was send cards to the Cat in the Hat in celebration of 50 years of Dr. Seuss. In exchange for every online card the Cat receives until June 30, Random House will donate one book (up to 2 million) to the nonprofit organization First Book. First Book's mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Please support their work in communities nationwide, and send the Cat a birthday wish today!

Celebrate!

Bring on the celebrations! During the month of March, not only will I be rejoicing the 40th year of my birth (yes, I said rejoicing), I will also be participating in NEA's Read Across America project.

This signature program, developed by the National Education Association, is building a nation of readers. Now in its thirteenth year, this year-round initiative focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources.

NEA's Read Across America Day takes place each year on or near March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Across the United States, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books, and you can too!

On March 2, the National Education Association calls for every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult. So grab your favorite kid, your favorite book, and enjoy some quality time together.

Siblings

My daughter Mollie ends up getting a lot of press regarding her food allergies and involvement with my book The BugaBees, so for now, I’m here to give equal representation to her 3-year-old brother Max – the baby of the family and the apple of my eye! Max is “all boy” as they say, and worships Lightning McQueen, Thomas the Train and Curious George. He also has never been tested for food allergies and I’m thinking it’s about time I do some investigating.

Our doctor tells us because there are so many false-positive results in clinical testing alone, the best way to do so is to just give him peanuts, tree nuts, etc. If he has any sort of reaction, then a clinical test will confirm the presence of a food allergy. Sure. No problem. Except there are lots of problems I can envision, which is probably why I haven’t done anything about this in the last three years of Max’s life. :)

First, I am hyper-sensitive about bringing any peanut/tree nut products into our home, so I’m not really excited about doing a “food challenge” in our kitchen or anywhere else in our house for that matter.

Secondly, Mollie and Max are almost always together. I’m not really sure why I feel the need to protect her from my little experiment with him, but in this case, I feel like less is more. The less obvious it is that Max will be in the next room consuming foods she’s allergic to, the more comfortable I think she will feel in general. (Because lets face, 3-year-olds are not exactly pristine eaters. My kitchen floor and dinner table can prove it.)

Thirdly, WHAT IF HE HAS A HORRIBLE REACTION?!? Yes, I have multiple Epi-pens on hand but somehow, I can’t get psyched up to create a situation where I might very likely need to use one. Plus, we live a good 20 minutes from the nearest hospital, so it’s not looking like that will be happening anytime soon.

What do other parents do? I’m dying to know. For now I’m thinking I might just have to meet him in the back alley near our health care clinic with a Nutter Butter in hand and see what happens.