For all of you fighting for your little ones with allergies, this is for you! And a special thank you and also my gift to you! 

My child, like most of you, was ‘never’ going to be the kid with allergies. I had visions of idyllic baby days, chilled out times and lots of fun. Turns out, he was, and with multiple severe allergies to boot.

As with many of you, you’ve watched your little one in a hospital bed, fighting for their life.

Life as you know it changes in an instant!

Everything you’ve always assumed, things you’ve dreamed since your own childhood of life once becoming a mother, the foundation of parenthood, cuddles with your little one, the joys of holidays abroad, the sound of infectious giggles might all be taken away from you at any time.

So where do you go from there?

You’re told your child has life threatening allergies, you’ve already seen them battle through serious allergic reactions which almost took them from you. They might not make it through their next one, and you don’t even know when or where that next one might be.

Life has become a ticking time bomb!

As a parent you look forward to your childs milestones:

• School
• Friends
• Birthday parties
• Graduation
• Jobs
• Grandchildren

But, if a severe allergic reaction can’t be stopped, it might never be theirs.

You have to learn a whole new way of life!

The hours spent reading labels, and then painstakingly cooking absolutely everything from scratch so that you know what they’re eating is safe.

The relentless fighting for support, advice and guidance from healthcare professionals, no matter how exhausted you feel, because you know your child needs this help!

The lost sleep over months and months, rocking our little ones throughout the night in a vain attempt to calm and soothe them through debilitating symptoms, all whilst running through the day to figure out what could possibly have caused the latest reaction, blaming ourselves as we ‘must have missed something’

As a parent of an allergy child, you learn to fight the biggest of battles, a fight like nothing else on earth, with the greatest prize of all……….that of your little one surviving.

Every day!

I refused to lose the fight with Callum, and I now fight for all of you too!

And so, because of this journey, I have learned so much!

I am grateful to have met incredible allergy mums fighting the same fight for their little ones, and I’m proud to be able to support you all, because you may not always believe it, but you’re all AMAZING!

Every single one of you!

Be grateful for the people in your life, the ones who ‘get it’ and make life that bit easier for you. The ones who are part of your ‘village’ and the ones you can turn to when times are tough, like the community that’s on this very page.

You are all worth your weight in gold!

Remember these key things to help you get through each day:

• Embrace each day
• Live each day with passion and pride
• Make the most of everything and live each day to the fullest
• Take nothing for granted
• Live each day one at a time
• Focus on the now and don’t fear the past or the future
• Find the light in the darkness as it will see you through the tough days

We often fight for our children, and forget about ourselves, so I’m here now high fiving each and every one of you, and acknowledging the incredible amount of work involved in keeping our little ones safe and well!

So, here’s to all of us allergy mums!

Tag the allergy mum’s you know that need to hear they’re doing a fab job!!

*COMPETITION TIME*

I want to recognise the hard work, sacrafices and more that allergy parents go through to keep their little ones safe. I also want to thank each and every one of you for your support, help and being part of this community here at Intolerant Gourmand.

So, as a way of giving something back, I am giving to you!

Callum and I have got a £20 voucher for Vue for one of you to go and spend some time chilling out with your family! We hope it gives you a bit of time to enjoy with your loved ones! 

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to answer this question by commenting on the blog post:

What is your favourite film and why? 

HOW TO ENTER

The prize will be sent out to the winner week commencing 8th July 2018.

Good luck! 

(Photo credit: Costco)