What’s sad is that this literally means surviving. Not dealing with or coping with, but actually continuing to live in spite of a dangerous situation. 
My sweet two year old is allergic to peanuts. He had an anaphylactic reaction at age 1 to a tiny piece of cereal he found on the floor while at a play date. We got to the hospital in the nick of time. As a nurse I knew how bad the situation was. Driving as fast as I could down Forest Ave to get to Medical City. My sweet blonde baby in the back gasping for air because he ate the smallest morsel of Captain Crunch cereal.
Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. We do family themed costumes, neighborhood trick or treating and it is awesome. However, adding a peanut allergic kid into the mix this time of year equals stress and worry. My oldest loves to eat all the chocolate candy he can and yet his brother can’t. I do not want to be a helicopter parent. It’s not my style or personality, but for goodness sake, how can I not when people have freaking peanut butter crackers, candy, sandwiches and even most pretzels at every park and party around?
If you don’t have a kid with an allergy you have probably never thought, “wow maybe we shouldn’t bring peanut butter crackers to the park.” “Maybe I shouldn’t give out reeses pieces at Halloween.” I know I didn’t until I gave my middle his first bite of peanut butter and realized we have a problem.
As a mom of a little boy that could die if he ate something like this I am pleading with all of you parents out there to please leave your peanut butter at home. Don’t take it to the park, to school, to play dates. Leave it home so that parents of kids with allergies can enjoy being at the park with their kids. So that us parents don’t have to be a helicopters to one child and make them feel “different”. And you know what? Sunbutter is awesome and kids love it! It makes a great SB&J sandwich and it won’t kill anyone.
This Halloween help me to create a safer, happier evening by supporting the teal pumpkin project. A teal pumpkin by your door means that you are serving candy that has no peanut products in it and it made in a factory that does not handle peanuts. Or better yet hand out toys and healthier options other than candy! This is a national campaign started by www.foodallergy.org and you can find more information here. Oriental Trading is also supporting the teal pumpkin project in which you can purchase tons of fun and inexpensive toys to hand out. See more here www.orientaltrading.com.
Here is a list of some of the foods that CANNOT be eaten by a child with a peanut allergy:
- M&M’s
- Candy Corn
- Pretzels
- Reeses
- Goodbar
- Babe ruth
Here is a list of candy that CAN be eaten by a child with peanut allergy: 
- Skittles
- Smartees
- Nerds
- Hershey kisses (plain)
- Anything made by tootsie
- Whoppers
- Dum Dums
- Rolos
- Starburst
Great job Sarah. I am also a mom of a severe peanut allergy 5yr old. Last Halloween, even though we had a talk about not eating any candy from trick o treating until I could go though her bag, she took one candy out and had 1 reices pieces and started screaming, “I ate a peanut!” We used the epipen immediately as her throat was closing up. She recovered but it was scary as always. People do not realize this is a daily struggle for us.
We will have a teal pumpkin for Halloween. Hugs and safe trick or treating this year from a fellow peanut allergy mom.
Oh my gosh Jennifer, that is so scary! Thanks for reaching out. The more people that we can get on board with the teal pumpkin the better! Thanks for reaching out! Have a happy and safe halloween this year! XO sarah