Mommy Instincts

You know that feeling you get when something is going to happen or maybe you need to rethink things before something happens....my friend calls it "Mommy Gut." I call it a God-given mommy instinct that helps me protect those I love. I recently had a mommy instinct moment...

We were on vacation and being on vacation means I have to search through online menus before going to a restaurant and ask a lot of questions at the restaurants because my daughter has some food allergies. Normally we deal with nuts and milk, but nothing else (she's a picky eater). We went to a place while we were out one day and I didn't have time to check out the menu beforehand. We asked a lot of questions and decided she would split fish and chips with my husband.

The food arrived and as I was getting ketchup for her, I had an image float through my mind of the sheet of allergens from the allergist. At the top left was cod...it just so happens that the fish we ordered was cod. I questioned myself several time, but ultimately decided to go with my mommy gut. I told my husband not to let her eat it.

Fast forward a few days later, we got home and dug up the allergy sheet. At the top left of the page was listed cod. I'm grateful #1 to have Mommy gut or Mommy instinct and #2 that I listened to it. I can only imagine what kinds of things we might have dealt with if I had talked myself out of it. So, if you get those "feelings" sometimes, go with it.
  

List of Allergy Friendly Candy

Via Gina Clowes of Allergymom.com
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Safe-Candy-List--50--Allergy-Friendly-Halloween-Treats-.html?soid=1101439904708&aid=euFyg7qUbFM 

Airheads www.airheads.com  Multi-colored and flavored taffy strips.

Bottlecaps www.wonka.com  Soda flavored candy. (Root beer, orange etc.)  

   

Divvies  www.divvies.com  Chocolate ghosts, Halloween jelly beans, caramel and kettle corn, all made to share!    

Dots  www.tootsie.com  Candy corn dots are safe for many too!

Dum Dums  www.dumdumpops.com These, (along with Smarties) are food allergy family favorites as they are safe for a variety of allergies.

Enjoy Life Chocolate Bars  www.enjoylifefoods.com  Three varieties. My kids love the crispy rice milk chocolate.

  

Frito Lay  www.fritolay.com  Regular Lay's potato chips, Ruffles, Tostitos, and Fritos are safe for many allergies.  

Fun Dip www.wonka.com  Candy stick + candy dip = Fun!

Gimbals Jelly Beans www.gimbalscandy.com  Very allergy aware company.

Hot Tamales www.hottamales.com   Similar to Mike & Ikes with cinnamon flavor.

Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum www.wrigley.com  My kids love the bubble tape version.

Jolly Ranchers www.hersheys.com/jolly-rancher  Sticks and hard candy.

Jujubes (and Jujyfruits) http://www.farleysandsathers.com  Great for decorating cakes and cookies too.

Lemonheads www.ferrarapan.com  Small size and jaw breaker size.

Life Savers (hard candies & gummies) www.life-savers.com  My kids love the gummy variety.

Mike & Ike www.mikeandike.com  Popular movie candy.

Necco Wafers www.necco.com  Oldie but goodie shows up a lot at Halloween.

Nerds www.wonka.com  My son and his friends love these sugary nuggets.

Nik-L-Lip  www.tootsie.com  Those cute little wax bottles with colored sugar water inside.

Pez www.pez.com  Fun, convenient and safe for most allergies. A clever Pez dispenser is good for trading unsafe candy.

Pixy Stix www.wonka.com  Messy but fun. Teens like the larger size.

Pure Fun www.organiccandy.com  Tasty way to avoid dyes and gmo's.

Razzles www.tootsie.com  First it's a candy, then it's a gum!

Skittles www.skittles.com  A "safe" candy that is a Halloween favorite.

Smarties (US version)  www.smarties.com  These are a favorite for many allergy moms. Safe for many allergies.  Smarties pops are good too!

Sour Patch Kids  www.sourpatch.com  Tangy, sweet-sour gummy candy.

Spree (regular only) www.wonka.com Chewy variety contains egg.

Starburst www.starburst.com Another allergy mom favorite.

Surf Sweets  http://www.surfsweets.com   Organic gummy bears, worms and jelly beans free of dyes and all common allergens.

Swedish fish www.swedishfish.com  These little red fish are another Halloween favorite.

SweeTarts www.wonka.com  Regular only as chewy sweetarts contain egg.

Wack-o-wax (wax lips) www.wonka.com Red lips or the vampire teeth anyone?

Warheads www.warheads.com  Super sour candy not for the faint of heart.

Yummy Earth www.yummyearth.com Organic lollipops, drops and other dye-free candy. 

Dave Ramsey makes me emotional

Ed and I have set out on our journey to financial freedom via Dave Ramsey. We got the cd's from the Financial Peace University from some friends and have been listening to them. I've limited myself to one a day because of the range of emotions that I experience while I listen.
First, I felt angry at my parents for not teaching me more than savings and for helping me get that first credit card. Then I felt regret that Ed and I hadn't started this sooner. We've been married for almost 8 years and we were making boat loads (to us) of money when we first married. Then I heard a very sad story about a guy and I just bawled through the end of it. That pretty much sent me off the emotional deep end for the rest of the day (and I had listened to it on my way to work in the morning). Now, if you know me, you know that I'm pretty even keeled emotionally so this is kind of new territory for me.

I'm grateful that Ed and I are taking this step, but I know it's going to be hard and that I'll have to really think about every dollar I spend. It's going to be quite the emotional ride around here for a few months.

Punishment at the grocery store

Last week I was looking for some dairy free ice cream alternatives at the grocery store. Ed had given the girls some sherbet while I was out of town not knowing that it's first ingredient is MILK! AUGH! So, I head over to the healthy food freezer section and find the ice cream...much to my dismay....even though there is dairy free ice cream, it's all horribly expensive!! Does anyone else think that $6 a pint is okay? I mean, you can get a whole gallon of Blue Bell for that price.

I hate that people who choose to eat these foods for health or moral reasons or people who have special food needs (the allergy people) seem to be punished financially. And yes, I do know that there is this little thing called "supply and demand" that causes the price to go up. It just frustrates me that my poor kiddo who can't consume dairy is going to miss out on one of her favorites because I can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on food for her. Someday I will buy an ice cream maker and make all the dairy free ice cream that her little tummy can handle! Until then, we have to figure out some other "su-prises" for my girl.