Growing up with a severe peanut allergy was nuts. I developed the allergy before I was two years old, and my parents didn’t know anyone else who had the same allergy. There wasn’t a huge food allergy movement back in the 1980s, so other parents didn’t believe that I could possibly be *that* allergic to peanuts (thanks to that one mom for the anaphylactic shock!). Halloween and Christmas were always scary times with nut riddled candy and homemade baked goods.
My own children tested negative for a peanut allergy when they were infants. But, because you can become allergic to anything at any time AND because they have the genetic predisposition for a peanut allergy, they live by the same peanut-free rules that I do. Whomp, whomp. No Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for us.
When I saw that the national non-profit group FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) was pushing for a new Halloween tradition, I immediately got on board. The group is encouraging families to put a teal pumpkin on their front porch as a sign to Trick-or-Treaters that the home has non-food treats available. Their Teal Pumpkin Project has gotten a lot of interest in the media, and I’m hoping that a lot of homes will be participating. As a family, we have always offered nut-free candy, but now we are also going to have non-food treats, too.
Of course, a teal pumpkin was an excellent excuse for me to put together a crafty Halloween project. Since I’ve been eyeing the crayon drip pumpkins for years, I decided that this was my chance!
I started by grabbing a live white pumpkin to decorate. I really wanted a fake craft pumpkin, but those have apparently been sold out for over a week at my local Michael’s. A WEEK! People have moved on to Christmas. Poor guy at Michael’s had to hear my “But it’s not even Halloween yet!” rant. Bless his heart
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