Easy Tips for Navigating Social Events With Your Food Allergy Child Miniseries

How To Create Awareness With Family And Friends When Going To An Event, Camping, Traveling OR Any Social Situation.

Part 1

Navigating social events with food allergies can be one of the most overwhelming and difficult things we do as food allergy moms. Each event is unique and we often find that we have to start over with educating for EVERY EVENT. Not only that, but each event is usually focused on food which makes it even harder to manage. One question I OFTEN think is: why does everything have to revolve around food?

Needless to say, social events with a food allergy child can be exhausting and overwhelming, to say the least.

This is why I thought I would do a miniseries with specific and EASY tips for navigating social events with your food-allergy child.

I know right now, with the pandemic, we’re still limited in many ways for social events, but even if you’re not going to a lot of social events right now, learning how to navigate social events now will help you for when things get more normal again.

Just a quick note: I’ve written specific blog posts about a lot of events like BBQs, Weddings, Birthday Parties and Playdates specifically so make sure to read those by clicking on the word’s “Social Events” on the right of this blog to read them.

I remember back when we were first diagnosed with food allergies. My girls were babies and toddlers and social situations were so completely daunting and scary.

We were the only ones in our social group and families with severe allergies so I found it really hard to let people know what we needed.

I would go between being really relaxed on the outside (and freaking out on the inside at the event) to being OVERLY demanding. It took a long, long time to get it right, and it’s not perfect now.

But I’m definitely WAAAAY better at it than I was in the beginning. So I want to share with you the things that I KNOW work. I’m going to give you one tip today, but there’s a lot more to come so make sure to watch for more in the coming weeks.

Today’s EASY TIP for Navigating Social Events With A Food Allergy Child is CLEAR COMMUNICATION.

Watch this quick video on this topic here:

I know I struggle with communication, especially because there are lots of things that make communicating hard.

Four Easy Ways To Make Your Communication About Food Allergies Clearer

Take emotions out of it. Stick to facts and positivity. No fear, no anger, no sadness because these emotions “muddy” your message.

2. Find your best way to communicate with clarity. Are you better at texting or a great email writer? Or do you speak more clearly? Choose your best mode of communication so you can be the clearest.

3. Understand WHAT you want and check your expectations before any communication.

Sit down & really think about what you want people to do. WRITE IT DOWN. Are you being realistic? Is there something you can do to help the host? HOW can you navigate this TOGETHER without putting everything on them?

You won’t be able to be clear in your communication if you don’t truly understand WHAT you want to say.

4. Be extra positive especially if you’re writing an email or text because sometimes positivity doesn’t come through as well in writing. Write it, read it, and then read it again. If you’re not sure, err on the side of adding more positivity!

Ok, so using all these ideas, I’ll ask, how can your communication become MORE CLEAR when it comes to food allergy safety and social events? Watch next week when I’ll be talking about another easy tip for navigating social events with your food allergy child. It’s easier than you think!

Let me know! Comment below if you think of a way you can be more CLEAR in your communication about social events.

Don’t forget to visit PART 2 of this series all about making food allergy boundaries to help with navigating social events. In part 3 we’ll look at some food allergy social solutions and the pros and cons of each (there are a few that will surprise you!)

Conclusion

Clear communication is really important when it comes to navigating social events with your food allergy child. Use the easy tips above to help you become more clear when responding to and talking about food allergies at social events.

PLEASE read and SHARE this post with other food allergy moms and food allergy groups. Sharing IS a great way to help other food allergy moms and increase food allergy awareness. Thank you so much!