Camp, Overnighters, and Outing Planning

Just got back from helping with the Tween Retreat with our church. The kids had a blast and I ended up working hard, because I volunteered the whole time. I usually volunteer to make sure that they get to eat safely.

Last year I volunteered a little. I packed my daughter plenty of Annie's. Got the menu of what would be served a week early and tried to match as best as I could. The facility did NOT have a very good microwave and so heating a cup of water took 6 minutes. Lesson learned - need cold dishes just in case. There was a sweet girl who had corn allergies and she ate very little food, because the food that was provided was full of corn. I couldn't share my daughters food with her, because ours was had corn starch in most of the things.

This year went a lot better. I packed what my kids like and what I thought would be easy. I used my Tupperware to pack things that went into the microwave. This time I didn't ask for a menu. Wish I had, because I was a little unprepared and didn't know that their was cake, brownies and ice cream. They did have a nice couple that catered and did a wonderful job feeding the kids healthy. The advantage of working in the kitchen is reading all of the ingredients and deciding what is safe enough to allow my kids to eat what the other kids are eating. Also, I was taking care of my kids. The couple who catered had very little experience in food allergies. Before hand she only knew about my kids and another child who had egg allergies. But we soon found out that we ended up with a total of 7 kids with food allergies/intolerance. That became my job, to take care and plan for them. These kids of course were over joyed.

I feel it is important to live and not allow food issues keep us at home away from the fun. I think with a little planning, life can be fun, adventurous, and normal.

The biggest thing that I can stress is - Don't assume your child will be taken care of with food allergies at camp, overnighters, field-trips, etc..... Think about how long it took you to learn to deal with the food allergy. People honestly don't know, because they have not ever experienced it. It is really not their fault, because they don't have the knowledge. Most of the time, these are volunteers. As parents, I feel we are responsible to make sure that we pack our dear children who have food issues with plenty of safe food, just as we make sure they have enough underwear and socks.

Important tips for our kids to have a wonderful experience.
-Bring child's own food. (Negotiate the cost down, because they include the cost of feeding your child in the package)
-Find out the menu in advance to prepare for those forbidden treats that our child can't have.
-Talk to the person in charge, caterer, and any counselors or other adults that will have close contact with your child on the adventure. Never assume people read the permission slips that ask if your child has allergies. If you can do this in advance, do it. Because sometimes they will be a wonderful advocate for your child when needed.
-Have cold food and hot food, because you don't know the condition of the facilities.
-Volunteer in the kitchen if you can.
-Go to facility and settle your child in when checking them in. Part of that includes bringing your child into the kitchen, finding a home for your child's food, and introducing them to the kitchen staff. If child is old enough, arrange for the child to be able to come in, help themselves to their food and heat it up.
-Also, arrange with counselors to allow your child to leave 5 min early to prepare their own food.
-Write your name on your child's food, bag and/or cooler.

Our issues were gluten free and limiting dairy. Here is what I brought for the kids.
-Breakfast
The girls brought Kinnickinick donuts and cereal with rice or soy milk. Do you think the kids missed not having pancakes? (Then they just ate the sausage and fruit that was served to everyone else.)
-Lunch
The girls brought fixings for nachos - corn chips, chili, soy cheese, salsa, and onions. (They had burritos and so I just used most of our stuff for the girls to have burritos.)
Second lunch the girls brought fixings for a corn tortilla rolled up sandwich - corn tortillas, lunch meat, mayo (important area of contamination), lettuce and onions. (They had hamburgers and hot dogs and so the girls had a hot dog rolled up with a corn tortilla.)
-Dinner
The girls wanted tacos, but I brought them tastoda shells instead along with retried beans, soy cheese, taco meat. lettuce and salsa. (didn't have this meal)
Just in case
The girls brought steamed rice and tuna packet. Wasn't sure what I would use it for. (They had spaghetti with meatballs and so we just poured the meatless sauce over the rice and she gave the gluten free and egg free kids the boneless/skinless chicken.)
Snacks
Made a trail mix
GF cookies
Soy yogurt
Frito's
Soy chocolate milk
GF candy

I quickly put this together the day of the first day of the retreat. I normally would of planned it out better and would of had a better variety and choices, but like everyone else, I ended up short on time. But I learned from last year and this year was far better. Next year will be even better. :)

I also plan on writing an information letter to the elders to make them aware that the youth pastoral staff needs to be more informed about food allergies and better communication with the parents about planning for them.

I would love to hear more tips.