It isn't good to let food allergies be your child's only identity. Your child has so many other qualities. For example, when others introduce your child, it may go something like this. "This is Amy, she is seven, she loves eating pizza, her favorite color is pink and she enjoys jumping rope." "This is Tommy. He is our food allergy boy. He is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, milk and eggs, poor kid."
I am very proud to be a food allergy parent and a member of this wonderful food allergy community, but I don't want others to always refer to my son as the food allergy child. I want people to know that he is a bright four year old, who likes superheroes, playing with his friends, ice cream and his favorite color is yellow. Of course it is very important to let others know about his allergies, but that shouldn't be the only thing that stands out when others meet us. It is a hard balance and I still don't have all of the answers as to what is the right or wrong way to educate my family and others. I am learning as I go and I try to do my best every day.
I try to teach my son without scaring him. I also try to not always talk about it in front of him. Kids need to just be kids, and have lots of fun.
We all just need to remember to be vigilant and prepared. We try to make the right decisions and hopefully pass these tools onto our children.
"The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears."