The Non-Allergic List

I started feeding Linden baby foods this month. Two weeks into the experience and I realized I was doing something different than with my other children. I was only trying him on one new food at a time and trying if for several days to make sure he did not have an allergic reaction before introducing something else.

Then each time I would try something new, I'd recite the list in my head. A list of foods Linden was not allergic to. Not a bad practice, if your child has food allergies or if they run in your family. In ours, the only allergies you have to worry about are the seasonal ones.

As soon as I realized what I was doing, I was stumped. Why? Why go to the trouble of remembering every food introduced when none of my children had ever had a food allergy? What had changed so that I would totally treat the introduction of foods to Linden different than all my other children? It would definitely be a lot easier to just remember the items he reacted to; an allergy list.

It didn't take but a moment to realize it was the introduction of my BFF and her son, who has chronic allergies, into my life that acted as the basis for my unusual behavior. Watching their daily struggle to live a normal life with the many extreme allergies he has ... well, it's left an impression. A conscious one, and I guess, an unconscious one as well.

Lacking any true reason to continue my non-allergic list, I have dropped it. I've also started feeding Linden just like my other children; off the table, mixed foods, whatever he'll eat. He's not had a reaction to anything and I've stopped expecting him too.

I'm just reminded of how much are lives are changed by those we choose to associate with.