Thanksgiving meal being served at school? Here are some tips...

The first year that my kids had to avoid gluten were tough when the holidays rolled around. At home, I could control what they ate, make it fun, and also make sure that there were plenty of options available to them that were safe. Being at school was a different issue all together.

Most schools in our area serve a "Thanksgiving" meal to the kids the week before or the week of Thanksgiving. The school that my kids attend is a small one, so the parents generally provide most of the side dishes to go along with that meal. Thankfully, my kids were able to eat some of the dishes served, but not all.

The first year, my kids just took their own lunch and avoided the meal. I really try to avoid this in most situations due to the face that it makes them feel "different" and there are always questions from fellow students. The next year, we were given a list of menu items and I was able to tell them what should be "safe" and they only ate those items.

My first suggestion would be to talk to the school, find out what they plan to serve and if there is something you can do to help. I know that many schools across the country will not allow "home baked or prepared" food to be served to the classes, so that does present a problem. Many schools, however, are getting much better at addressing food allergies and intolerance.

Find out what is being served that is not "safe" for your child, perhaps sending just those items to school with them would help to illuminate some of the "different" feelings and allow them to participate in the school Thanksgiving meal. You may be surprised at how many items on their menu are indeed safe.

I have found, that communication is always a huge help in these situations. The schools in our area are starting to get better at being willing to work with families with food issues, thankfully! There are more and more kids every year that are having issues, so I think they are having little choice. This is sad, simply because there are so many food issues these days, but good for those of us that have to think about this every day. Having the school district be willing to work with parents to ensure that their kids are safe to eat at the school is a huge step in the right direction!

For some, the risk of cross contamination may be too great. Again, talking to the school and voicing your concerns is a key step, I believe. Find out what they are preparing and prepare something similar for your child to take in his/her lunch box. Make it fun for them, make them feel special, maybe even get them involved in the preparation for the meal at school. I know for my kids, just having the choice of something "special" is enough.

There are parts of the traditional Thanksgiving meal that could pose a problem for a school lunch, but it is not something that is impossible by any means. Here are a few tips to help you find ideas for what will work for you and your child:

• If cooking a whole turkey just for a school lunch is beyond what you want to do, most stores now carry turkey legs, they roast up quickly and are a very inexpensive option.
• Another option is chicken, save a serving for your child from a dinner that week and send it with them.
• Heating food at the school can present a problem, talking to your child's teacher may be a huge help. If they know about your child's food issues, many times they can make a microwave available to your student for special occasions such as a school holiday lunch.
• Make a turkey or chicken sandwich on a dinner roll, mix a bit of cranberry sauce with some cream cheese for a fun and yummy spread on their "sandwich."
• Use flat bread with added herbs and seasonings added to the batter before you bake it, for the bread on their sandwich. Using English muffin forms to make round bread would be a fun change of pace as well.
• For dessert, fix some pumpkin pudding and send it in those small travel containers.
• Send items that need to be heated in their own containers, small servings work best to ensure that hey are heated through. The inexpensive food containers they sell now work well for this. You can often find them with dividers to allow different kinds of food to be placed in one container.

The key here is to make it fun for your kids. For most kids, feeling different from the rest of their class mates is the hardest part of living with food allergies or intolerance. Lets face it, kids can be very mean. Sometimes without even meaning to, but sometimes just because they are not taught to understand differences in people. Either way, my goal is always to try and limit my kids need to feel different.

There are many options available to you, but the first step in situations such as this, is to communicate with your child's school. The staff at the school may have other options for you that will eliminate the problem all together. Allowing your kids to participate in activities at their school also help them to not feel so "different." Kids tend to do that all on their own, but being able to step in and help is so rewarding for our kids!