Out To Eat

Going out to a restaurant makes me nervous. I wonder where there maybe hidden peanuts/tree nuts. I wonder if our chairs and table are covered in peanut dust. I wonder if the guy who made my kids hamburgers had a Reese Cup on his last break. But, then I remember FAAN says "don't live in fear" and I remember the Lord said "if you are prepared, you shall not fear." So I wipe down the tables and chairs with sanitary wipes. I tell the manager "hey my kids have food allergies, specifically peanut, treenut, milk and egg. It's serious. I need to make sure there food is safe." They don't have peanuts/tree nuts...at least at the McDonalds we go to most frequently with the boys. They open new packages. They tell the grill team. They are very, very careful. They sort of have to be with me staring them down, watching a little too closely:)

When the meal is over, I remind myself not to over examine every red mark on my boys thinking it might be a hive or some sort of reaction. I try to be discreet because I still do look for all those little signs of a reaction. I don't want my boys to be anxious and live in fear. I take a deep breath. I say a prayer in my heart. We pray over our food. And in the end I do try to do the cooking mostly at home.

The other night we went out to eat. My oldest son was ill and I did not feel like cooking. We got the boys hamburgers from McDonalds. My husband and I had Pizza Hut. I went in to Pizza Hut and picked up the pizza. I said my boys have peanut/tree nut allergies blah blah blah. Two out of three of the workers said I don't know if we have anything that contains peanuts, etc. One of the three (the youngest one actually) went around the corner for a minute, came back and said "Actually nothing we serve contains peanuts or tree nuts." I say "how did you know that." He says "we have a sheet with the top 8 allergens listed for all of our menu items." I say "can I see that?" He says "sure." WOW! I was impressed by the sheet and it's details. I felt safe if LJ or BJ want to have some pizza or breadsticks, without cheese of course, in the future. I don't always mention to the restaurant milk and egg allergy because they are not as severe in LJ. For BJ egg and milk is severe. I need to start mentioning it when we eat out.

I still have to fight my anxiety about peanuts, tree nuts, and other allergens in our food or cross contaminating our food when we are out to eat. But, I have read in paperwork from the allergist that if you warn the restaurant and are careful that it's okay. What do you think? Do you take your kids with food allergies out to restaurants? Do you secretly watch them for signs of a reaction? Sometimes I even sneak in there rooms after they are sleeping just to make sure all is well.