Now that the school year is over, do we get to breathe a sigh of relief? There of those of us who made it through another year of school with no allergic reactions, and there are those that didn’t make it quite so smoothly through. Whether your child had a safe year at school or not, do we get a month or two to relax before the worries kick in again next year? When do we start worrying about next year? When do we contact administrators, teachers, nurses, whoever else we need to? When do we start demanding that our rules be abided by? (Check out http://allergickid.blogspot.com for one mother’s account of her child’s allergic reaction at school).

We just received my daughter’s report card in the mail and in her packet were also included her emergency medical procedure forms. There’s really not time to take that sigh of relief I just mentioned. I need to get doctor’s signatures and evaluate how I think her allergy is best handled. Do I want to stick with our original plan or set up some new guidelines? Luckily, I know who her teacher will be next year school year and she is already aware of my daughter’s allergies. But I will still write a letter, and that letter will still have to go to all of the other teachers whom my daughter will see (PE, music, art, etc.). Those may be even more important because they are not in the “allergy free environment” that her classroom is.

And there are instances like Allergy Mom experienced. We all fear it and she got it. She handled it great and I completely understand the changes she is making in her child’s allergy procedures and what he can have and not have at school. I’m just glad the school alerted when they did. It’s hard enough to send our babies off to school and then throw this on top, and well, kudos to her for her bravery and her proactiveness. I appreciate her blog because I think it is helpful to us all to hear from someone whose child has experienced an allergic reaction at school and what they did/are doing.

Over the summer, it may be a good time for all of us to evaluate our plans and policies. Do we need to tighten up, loosen up, talk to someone else at school, send another letter, talk to parents, do something, anything more? So I guess the answer to my previous question is no, not really. We don’t get that sigh of relief we deserve.