It’s summer already! How did the time fly by so fast?! Last time I wrote, there was still some scraps of snow on the ground (barely, because I remember it being too warm for that sugar to harden on the mashed ice!) There has been a LOT going on the past few months. Not all gluten related though.

I found a slew of Gluten-Free peeps, or tweeps, and SO much great information on twitter! Come on board the GF express and follow me! EverydayGF is the name

There has been quite a few things going on that I’ve been meaning to write about. Things like school outings and letting go of that control but keeping everyone on the know. Speaking of letting people know of your child’s special needs, don’t forget mundane everyday playdates with friends and their sitters. Those sitters need to know too! Then there’s summer traveling and in our case what to do when you renovate your kitchen?! You can’t order in or eat out everyday (unless you’ve got a whole choice of restaurants to pick from and/or are fine with doing that!) In our case, we’ll be renovating in the coming days/weeks and I’ll let you know how we’re dealing with that and keeping things as GF as usual!

Hopefully I’ll get to post here more, the hours in the day just seem to fly by. Always something to do, someone to take care of and so much more. But I ain’t singing any special tune, just the same as all of you! Be on the lookout for these new subjects soonish!

Need I really say more? It was awesome! The staff was very upbeat and careful that we sat in spaces where the utensils were double washed. The food was good and the taffy was yummy!

Here’s my girl with her FIRST ever taffy and our little family (I’m behind the camera of course) filling up our tummies!

We are definetly going back to this restaurant (well, maybe the Laval location) for a family outing with no stress or extra lunchboxes!

And what happens when you give a 2 year old too much sugar…

Oh the joys of seeing so many little faces having a grand ‘ol time. If you’re the one organizing, it usually seems like a cinch. GF all the way and it’s easier to keep tabs on who is eating what if you DO have non-GF items. But what if your child is the invitee at someone else’s place? What then? What if the party is at school? Have a melt-down? Panic attack? Well of course not. There are multiple ways to keep your blood pressure down and get a good lesson in for your kids. Life is an ongoing learning experience, and a lot of it is hands-on!

I was lucky to listen in on a webinar made possible by the good people at Celiac Central. The topic of this month’s webinar (they want to make this a monthly thing and I’m excited about that!) was “Parenting the Gluten Free Child”. Can you get more specific into what it is I blog about?? They had something about schools on their list for today, but it wasn’t possible to offer that presentation, although other great presentations also mentioned schools and how to deal with social events.

In the beginning, to help your child adjust to special gatherings, it’s a good idea to get or make foods that will look and taste similar to what will be offered there. It’ll help them feel included in the fun. This need not be an eternal thing, as they grow and develop good self esteem, they won’t need to rely on such tactics to feel included. It greatly depends on their current state of mind and their age. If the host allows, you can always bring a plate of GF treats (brownies are always a good bet) for your youngster to share with everyone.

If you aren’t able to stay and help chaperone the party, make it clear that if your child needs to call you to double check or verify a situation with you that he or she will be able to make that call. Your child may be aware of what he or she may have, touch, and how to respond when they come into contact with gluten whereas unsuspecting chaperones might try to keep them away from possible gluten contact more then is actually needed (depending on age and awareness) and end up secluding the child in an attempt to help keep them safe. The inverse is also true, if the child keeps being pushed into situations he or she is not comfortable dealing with yet, it might be important for them to be able to contact you so you can help them deal with the situation or talk to a chaperone to straighten things out.

At my daughter’s current age, I’m more interested in being one of the chaperones myself. She’s a naturally shy child, meaning she likes to stay close to me in social situations, so I think she rather likes that I come along for her preschool outings. It works out good, for now at least. I can make sure no one touches her lunch and help her give answers to other kids’ questions about certain things in her lunch box, although it looks pretty normal to the unsuspecting person.

In the end, it rather depends on the age of the child and his ability to take control of situations so that he stays comfortable and healthy. Going through possible situations in a role playing manner is a good way of getting them into the right mindset to make the right decisions. Asking them how they’d react to someone offering them the birthday cake or flavored ice cream they don’t recognize for example. Play at this until they understand the right answers and why they ARE right. Children are sponges, they’ll soak it all up and they’ll grasp many concepts more quickly then we give them credit for. As long as it’s explained in such a way that they truly learn the lesson, they should get the idea quickly enough. You know you’ve gotten through to them when they start playing with their dolls/cars/stuffies and have THEM reenact Gluten Free conflict situations

My husband and I celebrated 5 years of happy marriage last August. We didn’t want to spend too much to go someplace “far away” so we decided to stay close to home. In fact, we’ll be enjoying a ski/spa retreat THIS weekend to celebrate. But what of the kids? Ah, the thousand dollar question.

With our current food situation and that the girls are still both relatively young (2yo is still in her crib) we thought it might be easier for everyone (babysitters included) if “they” came here. “They” would be my wonderful SIL and charming BIL. Yep, they will be “enjoying” time with our children while we try to forget our daily lives for 36 hours.

For us, this was the simplest solution all around. The girls get to stay where things are familiar, even though the people doing the everyday stuff might not do it “the same” (I can hear my 4yo telling them off already…). They will sleep in their own beds, as usual, although bath & bed times might not be as usual. Finally, they will eat our GLUTEN FREE food, made in our GLUTEN FREE kitchen, eaten in our GLUTEN FREE house. And THAT friends, is worth it all. It’s worth asking for this HUGE favor (although they keep saying they’re looking forward to it… have they met my kids, really?) because it will put MY mind at ease. After all, we are going away for US, not for our kids, not this time anyway. Leaving them both to be taken care of by someone else, that is not my own mother, is a big thing for me. I’m not worried about their competence, firsts are just always hard, at least for me. I’ve got anxiety issues (no really, control freak? MOI? No….) so it’s already a big step. If I had to worry about my big girl getting glutened however accidentally, I think I wouldn’t be able to leave at all. I’ll have to, some day, I’ll have to let it go and be ok, but there’s still time for that, right? I’ve still got time to get used to the idea. Right now, I’m not ready.

So, to keep everyone happy, myself included, here are the things we’ll do to keep things “safe” for my girl. We already have a “wash rule”. If you touch something that has gluten in it (or eat it) you must wash your hands (and lips) before manipulating GF food or cleaning little miss up (or kiss & hug her). When you use utensils for gluten, they go straight to the sink or dishwasher. Can’t use cutting boards, toaster or the oven since those are off limits due to easy cross-contamination and you need to wash your work area when you’re done. Since 98% of the house is GF, it’s not as much of an issue now as it was in the beginning. That said, there are still a “few” key things that aren’t GF, or haven’t been verified (not from lack of trying!)

Featured among this small list would be my husband’s beer. (Totally not GF and forget about getting him to drink the GF stuff, he’s a beer buff. He doesn’t drink often, so he likes to indulge in really *good* beer. I think he’d have been broken hearted to leave that behind. Sort of like me and Chocolate, but that’s another blog entirely…) I don’t think we need to worry about my daughter sampling any of it just yet. And if she’s anything like me, she’ll be fine with the GF beer when that time comes. Then we have my husband’s luncheon meats, which are on a “warning, contains gluten” labeled shelf in the refrigerator door. Also some Salsa I was told is produced on the same line as other products containing gluten, so we nixed it as well. It’s still in there, the stuff takes forever to “die” in the fridge and I’ve just not taken it out, yet. I’ve started making my own when I need to, it’s not always pretty but even my husband thinks it’s pretty decent That’s it for the fridge really. I have some nuts & Goji berries I’ve been buying for myself (for my breakfast) that I’ve not yet gotten any email responses from the manufacturers, so those are off limits until they are cleared. I’ll put them away this weekend, or at least put them in a marked container so my SIL knows to handle with care.

Otherwise, it’s pretty straight forward. *WE* order take out and are vigilant about cleanliness when we do, but we easily forget. In that line of thinking, I bought everything they need to make home made pizzas, which our 4yo will ask to eat EVERY day when I wonder aloud what I should make for supper. I’m also making a double batch of Sheperd’s Pie for Friday night, so they have leftovers for one lunch and I’m sure my SIL can figure out between bacon & eggs or sandwiches for the other lunch. I think I’ve covered all the GF bases for in home child care.

On top of everything, I’ll warn them about not using any of their personal hygiene products for the girls (soaps, toothpastes, lotions) as what we have for them is verified. (yes, even toothpaste people!) I’ll clear out the medicine basket and clearly set aside the acceptable ones in the event they should administer anything to either of them.

Might have noticed I include the younger sibling in everything. The thing is, she was tested at 9 months and again at 12 months I think and both came back negative, which is great! However, since the whole house is now gluten free, I’m not comfortable giving her gluten just anytime. If she were to develop the disease as well, I would like to be able to see the progression. Once they are both old enough not to make a huge mess when eating (youngest in kindergarten maybe??) we’ll re-introduce SOME gluten in the house, nothing fancy. At that time, I will be able to keep an eye on our young one for any signs of Celiacs. So, as to not confuse it at this time, she is also on the GF diet. Not that she notices anything since she doesn’t attend daycare and family usually prepares a GF meal when we visit.

All in all, I think I can escape, um, retreat to our little spa weekend with an appeased mind and truly enjoy our time as a couple instead of as parents. If only for a few fleeting hours