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Allergy experience

Well, Amanda finally had an allergic reaction at school. Yesterday one of the "sensory experiences" set up for the kids was a flour table (wheat flour, of course). Amanda was so interested that she went over there even before she had washed her hands and got completely covered. There was no immediate reaction, but she was completely covered in it. She started itching (I don't know if she had any hives, I don't think so) so the teachers gave her Benadryl, washed her off and eventually changed clothes.

If we had been really concerned about exposure to wheat, we could have asked that the classroom be a wheat free zone (just like it is a "nut free zone") with no playdough and no wheat snacks. If we were extremely worried, we could keep Amanda home and have Eleanor take a shower and change clothes when she gets home from school (I know some people do this). The truth of the matter is that Amanda just isn't that allergic to wheat, if at all. The risks of exposure are outweighed by the benefits of school. The itching the teachers saw might even just have been a result of eczema (it has been really dry here, and Amanda's skin is getting worse).

I feel partly to blame: every week the teacher sends out a lesson plan with the activities for the day, and I should have noticed the flour table and given her a heads up. In the future, I think we can definitely do better than a flour table that Amanda can't play with. We could use other types of flour (oat, rice, sorghum) as well as corn meal, corn starch, grits, rolled oats, grains of rice. I will offer to buy these for the school.

I guess I feel bad that I wasn't more proactive this time, and I feel lucky that nothing worse happened. Hopefully it never will.

Update: I just got a call from Amanda's teacher, she started itching in the classroom again. Sigh. I guess it's time to call the allergist.
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