During our visit with my father, we were in and out of the room walking the halls of the hospital. The boys needed a break every few minutes since they can't sit still very long. The nurses and hospital staff really enjoyed watching and talking to the boys as we passed. There was one particular hospital worker who really enjoyed the boys being there that day. On one of our walks, we passed by this lady who was cleaning a room and she came out with two packages of cookies in her hand. She said to the boys, "Would you like some cookies?", and then placed them in the hand of my soon to be four year old that is allergic to peanuts and nuts. Both of my boys yelled in excitement, "Cookies!". I immediately grabbed the cookies from his hands in order to read the labels (I am sure the lady thought I was crazy). Of course, it stated "Processed on the same equipment as peanuts". "UGH", I said to myself. We quickly got out of view as the boys were asking to eat them. I then explained to them that they may have peanuts in them and was not safe to eat. Luckily that was all that I needed to say to them and they were over the cookies. We continued our walk through the hospital and I was able to ditch the cookies. We then ran into the same hospital worker as we were waiting for the elevators and then my soon to be four year old yelled down the hall to the lady, "Those cookies have peanuts in them and I am allergic." She said, "Oh, I didn't know that." I quickly shuffled the boys inside the elevator. I do have to admit that I was a little embarrassed and felt bad for the lady because I know that she meant no harm and was just being kind. After all, it is my job to inform people of this and not my child. However, my father made me feel better by telling me that even if he didn't know about the allergy, he would have never placed food or treats in a child's hands without first getting the permission of the parent. I guess I was just caught off guard and the kids were so excited, so I thought I could just ditch them and not hurt her feelings. Thanks to my brave and very smart son, I am sure the hospital worker will think twice before giving children treats.
My son had his medical alert necklace on and I am hoping that if he would have been lost inside the hospital then a person would have read the necklace before letting him eat the cookies. I also have to hope that the person knows that just because a cookie doesn't have peanuts and nuts visually present then that still doesn't mean they are safe. The cookies were yellow wafers with cream in the middle.
Thankfully no cookies were eaten that day and my father is now home from the hospital and doing very well.