Preschool With One of Those Allergy Kids

Here she is, my great big, preschool girl:

Now I'm going to go cry a little because how could this happen? How could my sweet, teeny little baby get this huge? 

I must admit that I really did cry a little as I walked away that first day, leaving my baby girl behind. She, however, just waved with a quick, "Bye Mom!" and was off, not a care in the world. 

Why doesn't she need me anymore!?!?!?!

Ok, I'll quit whining now. I've been agonizing over preschool for months and months and months. Clear back in February I started talking to neighborhood people about preschools, and soon I was on the waiting list for two different ones. We toured one of the preschools, and as we walked in the front door I was greeted with a big, happy sign declaring the building to be a nut-free facility. The director showed us the classrooms, introduced us to the teachers and briefly went through the curriculum before I could ask her the question I really cared about, what about food allergies? 

She then went into great detail about the EpiPen training that her teachers received, how they required each teacher to have an EpiPen on their hip at all times for each food allergic child and the strict requirements for preparing snacks for the child that is allergic. Changing gloves twice during the process to avoid cross contamination in a facility that is already nut free? Sounds completely extreme and overboard, and exactly my kind of place! And so she was signed up.  

And then we moved.  I could have sent her for a month to this place, but I didn't see the point in getting her used to a new school only to change her to a different one a month later. Once I knew we were moving in with my brother, I started asking around about preschools down here and one came very highly recommended. We went for a tour and were floored, this place is so fun it even has a great big castle built right into the basement! I heard from several people how great the curriculum is and how much their kids learned. But what about the really big question? What about her food allergies? 

While this place doesn't have the obsessive glove changing, the owner went into great detail about her experience with allergic kids, again the EpiPen training the teachers received and how they worked the snacks. This preschool is also walking distance from my brother's house. Perfect!

I was reading an article online a few days ago that said the costs of having a food-allergic child average about $4,000 a year, and that does not include any medical bills or medications. That cost is typically from parents having to quit their jobs or make other changes in employment to stay home with their food allergic child or to otherwise provide them with a safe place to go each day. I've been lucky enough to stay home with my girls while still having a full time job. This is important to our family for many reasons not just related to food allergies, but it has been wonderful to be able to be here ensuring that her environment is safe every single day. Now that we are starting to take a little peek outside of our little bubble, it's so nice to know that there are people out there that are just as worried about my child's safety as I am, people who are informed about what to do in the worst case scenario. 

And her experience so far has been wonderful! She is learning so much so fast, and not just about letters and numbers. I love that she is learning how to make friends, how to get along with others and how to be on time for things. She is also having so much fun!