My childhood was filled with fun birthday parties featuring
my mom’s homemade touches. When my son was born 11 years ago, I envisioned the
same type of special celebrations for him. I was sure I’d be whipping up a
batch of pancakes to start his day, cook his favorite meal for dinner, then
throw a party complete with friends, family, cake, and fun and games just like
my mom did for me. 
But when Joseph was diagnosed with multiple food allergies 9
months after coming into this world, my vision for his future celebrations blurred.
Perhaps some of that blurry vision was from the tears that accompany the
feelings of fear knowing that a tiny speck of food formerly a part of everyday
life could take his life, and the sense of being overwhelmed after his initial
diagnosis by the huge task of figuring out how to keep him safe while
navigating life with food allergies. Tears aside, I had no idea how I was going
to pull off these birthday celebrations I had envisioned because all of the
food featured in the birthdays I had experienced before contained something to
which Joseph is allergic. 
Joseph’s allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, egg,
soy, sesame and mustard, along with having asthma, have made me even more
determined to make his birthdays special. The celebration should be a time when
the challenges he faces while navigating a life with food allergies and asthma
can melt away.
Dry would be the best way I could describe Joseph’s first
birthday cake. Perhaps it wasn’t just feeling overwhelmed from all of the
guests singing “Happy Birthday” that made him cry so much when I brought that
cake out. Despite that lack of success in the baking department the first year,
we started a tradition for our children’s birthdays that makes sure to celebrate the birthday boy or girl, making him or her feel special
from the theme they pick out, the activities, family and friends in attendance,
and food free of all the allergens to which Joseph is allergic. The birthday
parties we host are the only ones that Joseph does not feel different being the
kid who has to bring his own slice of pizza and piece of cake.
As we celebrate Food Allergy Awareness Week on the heels of
Joseph’s 11th birthday, I am happy to say that we’ve come a long way
since his first birthday. Last week, Joseph had a blast during our family
outing to a fun park for mini golf, go-kart racing and arcade games. His
birthday fun continued when he and his dad went to see “The Amazing Spider Man
2”. We celebrated with a video game party at our home complete with friends,
family, a video game challenge and other activities. The food, all homemade and
free of the allergens to which Joseph is allergic, included fruit kebabs, chocolate
Wii remote candy bars, two Wii remote cakes and ice cream. On his actual
birthday, I whipped up pancakes and bacon for his birthday breakfast, and we
enjoyed a birthday dinner full of Joseph’s favorites: chicken piccata, roasted
potatoes, corn on the cob and a homemade chocolate chip cookie cake.
While we were digging into our dessert I thought about the
vision I had for Joseph’s birthday celebrations all those years ago. Even
though the allergy friendly ingredients of all of the food I made to celebrate
his 11th birthday were different than what I had in my original
vision 11 years ago, the picture of my son feeling special and having a blast
celebrating his birthday was completely in focus.
