When I was in early elementary school, probably around 2nd grade, My mom and I went to the school to sign up for intramurals. It was this huge ordeal, where we had to stand in line for over an hour each year to sign up for different intramurals the school was offering. My mom and I got in line and soon a couple other moms got in line right after us. I recognized most of them, as their daughters were in my class.
They started talking, and because they were right behind us it was pretty hard not to hear what they were talking about. It was one of their daughters birthdays next week, and her mom was talking about what type of snack she was going to bring in for the class. I wish that’s where her conversation ended, but it wasn’t.
This mom started to talk about how she thought it was annoying that they had to make the treats allergy friendly. She went on and on about how much she hated it, “I mean who cares if the kid cant eat it.” I remember being petrified. Little did this mom know, the kid she was complaining about was standing right in front of her.
My mom heard the conversation too, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t know if I was listening to them, and didn’t want to bring it to my attention if I hadn’t even heard any of it in the first place.
I don’t have many memories of my allergies before that, but I think that was the first time I ever felt guilty about having allergies. I didn’t realize how much of an inconvenience I was to some people. In my own house, I never felt that way. Even at my friends houses, their moms always had an extra treat that I could have.
Something like this was bound to happen, so I’m sure even if I never heard those moms, I still would have feelings of guilt surrounding my allergies. Even now, as someone who is sensitive to others thoughts and feelings, I cant help but feel bad when someone has to go out of their way to make me something different or get me something extra.
Slowly though, I’m realizing that I don’t need to feel bad. If someone does something extra to accommodate me, most likely, they are doing it because they care and because they want to. I don’t have to feel bad about that.
Food Allergy Eats 