Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Back, albeit briefly.

Bella turned 4 over the weekend and I am still recovering. We had a party for her with 20 (no that's not a typo) of her pals from school (and life) and threw a mini carnival that included carnival games, a bounce house, and a real-life popcorn machine (um, so I went a leeeetle overboard). We had a ball! Don't believe me? There are photos (and a video even) to prove it.

But I found myself on the other side of the fence so to speak. One of Bella's pals has a milk allergy and I wanted to make sure the party was absolutely safe for him. But I found myself perplexed as to what I could serve - everything seems to have milk! After a little research, I ended up serving fruit, pigs in a blanket (it's scary that 'buttery' crescent dough has no dairy in it), raisins, chocolate teddy grahams (nope, no milk in those either), and home made chex mix (i used oyster crackers instead of goldfish). His mother was SO appreciative - it was truly a time where he could wander around the party and she could talk to other moms without having to worry. At all. Isn't that cool? I'm so glad I could keep him safe and give her some peace of mind for a few hours (isn't that what all of us allergy moms want?).

The only place I failed was the cake. Due to a snafu with the bakery we use, there ended up being milk in the frosting and he couldn't partake. So what's a peanut free mama to do? Break out the ChocoBoom bars of course! I sent it home with him and his mom (I think she was a bit wary - she hadn't had one and I think we all know how yucky some of the allergen free treats are out there) but I got the seal of approval a few hours later when his mom told me that he tried it and declared it "Delicious. And it's yummy too!".

I'll be back to my regular (well, more frequent) postings soon. I'm still cleaning up from the festivities - I'm hoping I can finish the dishes before we hit the 1 week anniversary of the shindig. Wish me luck - I'll need it.

5 comments:

ChupieandJ'smama (Janeen) said...

So glad the party was a success! And I'm sure the milk allergy mom thinks you're a saint. I know I would. Good luck with the clean up :)

Elyse said...

Glad the party was a huge success. WoW on the 20 kiddos too. Glad you helped out with the milk allergy. Some would not accomidate, but props to you. Good luck with recovery and cleanup :)
~Elyse~

Unknown said...

That's so great that you were able to accommodate the milk allergy. what a blessing for that child and mommy.

Pez said...

Glad to hear the party was a success! It looks like Bella had a lot of fun!

I think that you ROCK for making the food milk-free for that little boy. As a parent with children with more that one food allergy (Jax=peanuts and Cars used to be allergic to milk but now is just allergic to tree nuts), I've had friends try to accommodate one or the other allergy. I really appreciated it but it would have been great if both kids were able to freely eat the food.

Heather said...

As a mom with a kid who is ana to dairy, thank you :)

ITU though. Whenever we have allergy free playdates with DS's friends we're top 8 free and then some. I think we have about 12-15 different allergies we have to accomodate.