I'm not sure if it was the luck of the Irish, but I was
certainly feeling blessed today. Shamrocks, leprechaun mischief and
green-colored food mixed with Easter baskets and colorful eggs as we celebrated
two holidays.
We had already spent some time during the week focusing on
St. Patrick's Day in our homeschool with some writing assignments, learning
games and crafts. Preschool math games, such as shamrock graphing activities by
Inspiration
Laboratories, are great because not only do they provide a fun way for my
4-year-old to learn, but also they give my 9-year-old a chance to help guide
his sister with an activity that won't make him roll his eyes. Crafts, such as
the "Roll a rainbow" by The
Mailbox, also cross the age difference between my kids. They both enjoyed
rolling toy cars in various shades of paint and using them to create a rainbow
with a glitter-filled pot of gold at the end, of course.
It is such a treasure that there are so many ways to
celebrate holidays with fun activities so that Joseph doesn't have to focus on
his allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, egg, soy, sesame and mustard,
along with having asthma. But we also enjoy baking yummy, safe treats to
celebrate, and I'm thankful that there are plenty of allergy-friendly options celebrate the bit
of Irish in our heritage.
My children started the day following a shamrock trail to a
green pot with some leprechaun prizes before eating shamrock-shaped toast
topped with green sugar sprinkles, along with fresh fruit. Then we started
planning our treat-baking schedule for the day. We made allergen-friendly
chocolate cupcakes topped with green frosting, then made rolled brown sugar
cookies from Cybele Pascal's "The
Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook" into the shape of shamrocks. Once those
were covered in green frosting and purple sprinkles, it was time to prep the
turkey shepherd's pie so it would be ready when we returned from the Easter egg
hunt.
As I watched my son help hide eggs for our food allergy
support group's annual food-free Easter egg hunt and my daughter so absolutely
excited to be searching for those colorful, prize-filled plastic eggs, I was
reminded of how lucky we are to be part of NC FACES (Food Allergic Children
Excelling Safely), a group that has helped us navigate food allergies for most
of Joseph's life.
When Joseph told me he felt too old for the egg hunt and
would like to volunteer to help hide eggs instead, I wistfully reminisced about
all of the years when he was one of the young kids gleefully running across the
field to fill his basket. But once again, NC FACES came through and gave him a
fun, safe experience. This time, he was proud to be one of the big kids helping
an original NC FACES member, Marysa Gavankar, who ran the event at a local park
today. She had creative crafts ready to keep the little hands busy while Joseph
and a couple other kids found hiding places for the eggs. Marysa also organized
a game that had kids laughing as they threw plastic eggs across a grassy spot
into nets held by Joseph and three other boys. And when it was time for the
hunt, Joseph helped hold the banner for Pamela and the other young kids to run
through as they embarked on their quest to fill eggs.
Both Joseph and Pamela had a blast in their own way at
today's food-free egg hunt. As my children sipped their green, dairy-free milk
out of shamrock straws and dug into their shepherd's pie, they happily
recounted the day's activities. Once again, I am so thankful to be part of such a dynamic, caring allergy
support group and to be able to attend events like the egg hunt that offer our
kids a safe, fun way to celebrate and make me feel pretty lucky.
