Ok - Christmas Gluten Gifts Whinge Time

[georgie]

I am newly dx as Celiac. And this is my first Christmas. How do you cope with Christmas gifts given by family that have Gluten and are totally useless !! All my favourite food is here on the table and I can't eat it !!

[Kaycee]

That is so sad.

Does your family not know that you can't eat gluten, or just don't want to know. Maybe you have to re-inforce with them what you can and cannot eat. It is all new to them as well and probably quite hard.

I know a table full of food I can't eat brings tears to my eyes, honestly.

This is my first Christmas too, but I am so full and ready for bed!

I managed to cook mostly gluten free and it is not too hard, especially for the meat and veges, and I did manage to make a trifle, but it is those extras that I can't seem to find substitues for, like the fruit tarts and the chocolates that I miss.

Maybe next year you could offer to do some of the cooking, at least that way you will know what to eat.

Cathy

[Kaycee]

My little winge.

None of my presents was anything to eat. Maybe I have managed to educate my friends and workmates and family.

The only one present that was a bit iffy was a lavender soap (I don't get food anymore, so what is next best? Soap) and it said it could possibly contain oats.

Cathy

[angel-jd1]

There are a couple of ways you could handle this.

#1: Pass the food off to someone who can eat/use it. Say thank you to whoever it came from. Show that you are grateful and move on.

#2 Say thank you, explain to them why you can't eat it but again tell them thank you for thinking of you. Then pass the food on to someone who can use it.

My grandmother gave me some food this year in my christmas sock. It was something I wasn't sure of so I just gave it to my brother. I have tried explaining things to her for the last several years, it isn't sinking in so I gave up. I am just passing the food on and forgetting it lol.

Hope one of those decisions works for you!!

-Jessica

[Sophiekins]

I explain to family and close friends that foods I haven't seen made can make me sick enough to spend Christmas in hospital. . .and while I appreciate the sentiment, I hope they understand that I'd rather spend Christmas somewhere other than in Emergency having my stomach pumped. I then finish by explaining that if they would really like to "cook" for me, I'd love a card from their local soup kitchen telling me all about the time they spent there helping feed those less fortunate. The foods I do get from well-meaning acquaintances, I take with me on my way to work and give to the street-people I pass on the way (failing that, I give it to a local church or soup kitchen) and send the giver a thank-you card letting him or her know what happened to their gift and why (along the lines of "Thanks for thinking of me during your holiday baking! Although I couldn't enjoy it myself, I thought you'd like to know that your thoughtfulness brightened the Christmas of another family as well.").

It's the thought that counts, and the celiac diet is time-consuming to understand. Your family may find it helpful if, in future years, you circulate a list of reasonably priced suggestions for small things you'd like to see instead of food in your Christmas gifts.

[CarlaB]

Just say thank you, then pass it on. It was a gift, you don't want to make them feel bad for giving it to you. Appreciate the sentiment.

If they spend any time around you, they will eventually realize you haven't been able to use their gifts ... if they say something, just answer back that you were just so happy to get something, you passed it on and didn't say anything. At least with food you can pass it on ... if it's an ugly shirt, no one will want it!

[Viola 1]

Just say thank you, then pass it on. It was a gift, you don't want to make them feel bad for giving it to you. Appreciate the sentiment.

If they spend any time around you, they will eventually realize you haven't been able to use their gifts ... if they say something, just answer back that you were just so happy to get something, you passed it on and didn't say anything. At least with food you can pass it on ... if it's an ugly shirt, no one will want it!

Carla, you need at least one ugly shirt a year

But yes, the best thing is to just pass it on and let them know you appreaciate the thought. We have to remember that even though our lives center around what we can and can't eat, most people have busy lives with their own problems and can't always remember what they are looking for on the ingredients list for the ones they care about with Celiac. We all know how iffy some of those labels are.

Hang in there, it does get better

[Rusla]

First; when I saw whinge, I thought it was a Southern American word, but I have since learned it is an Australian word so, I have learned a new word today.

Now onto the subject at hand. I would say; "thank you but I can't have any of these items because they are just like poison to me. I would spend a lot of time in being sick if I ate them but I will give them to someone who can eat them and would enjoy them. I do appreciate the thought."

Then I would take them to work or better still to a womens or homeless shelter or give them to homeless people on the street.

Actually this year some kind person left a few homeless people gifts by their bodies as they were sleeping in one of our stations.

[swittenauer]

I thought the same thing....I was thinking what in the world is whinge? Ha!