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You’re prepping a few dozen cupcakes for a class party. You’re pondering whether the kids will prefer a chocolate cake or a yellow one. You’re debating what frosting to make. You’re wondering whether to pull out your piping tips and go crazy or just smear on the sugary gobs of goodness with a butter knife. In the average class, however, there are two other parents wondering whether or not the treats you and other parents are prepping will be safe for their children to consume. These are the parents of the 1 in 13 children with food allergies. Next month...

Our son was staring at the cheese counter in our local store and was curious about the flavors and textures. Rather than explain that he could not safely eat the cheese, I asked him what was interesting and what looked good. I then took him on a creative search through the allergy safe cheese section and helped create an experience he would safely enjoy. We talked about Cheese Plates and how they are sometimes served as an appetizer, a main course and even as a dessert. Thanks to a family visitor for the holidays, we also had a videographer in...

Our family deals with anaphylactic reactions on a regular basis. When you have two highly allergic kids (my son has 18 severe anaphylactic food allergies and my daughter has 6), you come to realize that many individuals know the words anaphylactic and anaphylaxis but don’t fully understand what they mean. For many, an anaphylactic reaction conjures up images of a patient going into shock: blood pressure drops, breathing becomes difficult, there may even be a loss of consciousness. It’s certainly scary. And while that image is true, it’s just one form of anaphylaxis. What is an anaphylactic reaction? To begin...

There’s that moment in the allergist’s office just before you receive the allergy test results: You draw a breath in and play out all the scenarios in your mind, leaning in to the fervent hope that this will all turn out to be nothing. And then the doctor gives you the news. Your child is, in fact, allergic to the foods you suspected. Now what?