Camp's Around the Corner....

So after MUCH back and forth with the Girl Scouts they decided to put ALL the allergic girls in B's grade level in my unit (including B - which is unheard of apparently). 6 out of 15 girls have a food allergy (and ALL include a peanut/nut allergy).

So I'm leading a unit with the following allergies:

• peanut
• tree nut
• milk
• eggs
• honey

It's definitely going to be interesting!  I'm going to be able to carry epis/benadryl for the girls in my pack (something the other leaders wouldn't do) and I'm working with the moms to ensure that the meals will be safe (it may require the moms to supply a substitute ingredient - like honey free graham crackers - is that too much to ask of them?).

As for meals, the camp leaders wouldn't let us ask the other unit's moms NOT to pack peanut/nut products (!), so we're going to have LOTS of hand washing before and after and we'll be setting up buffer zones for the girls - so if there's another girl with a PB&J, we'll make sure the girl with the ham sandwich is next to the allergic girl instead.  It'll be a juggling act for sure!

But ultimately, I'm doing what I had hoped that a group like the Girl Scouts would have taken upon themselves to do in the first place without a fight.

The funniest thing is:  I feel very nervous about this.  I'm in a strange position of watching after another mama's allergic girl.  I'm worried that I'll make a mistake and a reaction will occur. I'm worried that I wont read a label properly and slip up out in the woods no less.

Isn't that silly?

If you all have any suggestions/ideas about any foods to watch out for with a honey allergy, let me know.  We cookout on 3 of the days and our meals are: Tacos, Hot Dogs, and Pizza.  Desserts are homemade ice cream, watermelon, and s'mores.  I immediately thought of the graham crackers for s'mores having honey, but is honey in bread?  Suffice it to say, I'll be reading A LOT of labels in the coming weeks. I've got alot of homework to do.

When the contact at camp sent me the menus, she kept saying in her email things like "oh its veggies and ranch dip so all your allergic kids will be able to have it".

Uh, no they wont.  Last time I checked, Ranch had MILK in it.

Sigh.

If this camp thing isn't spectacular, then there's NO WAY we're going next year.

What have I gotten myself into?

UPDATE:  Good news!  I spoke to the mother of what i thought was an allergic camper.  Turns out that a girl who's file said she needs to avoid peanuts, honey, and eggs isn't actually allergic - i thought she was allergic or possibly vegan - but her mom just avoids them (not sure why as she's had all three in baked goods, but I didn't even want to ask why she had to put this on the health form - oh well). That makes just peanuts/nuts and milk to work with - that's a cakewalk!