Is Anyone Else Anxious About Eating During The Holidays?

[Virgie]

Hi! I am so anxious about my daughter and eating during the Thanksgiving holiday. This is her first holiday as gluten free. We have potluck one day & eat at a restaurant the next day (I hate eating out now). She is 13 and has been doing very well with shopping, reading labels, does not cheat, etc. So I am not worried that she will sneak off and have pie or anything like that. What I worry more about is cross contamination and what other people bring to the potluck. I also don't want her to feel like she can't eat anything. And she does feel that way when we eat out. Eating out is tough!! Hopefully it isn't where you live but where we live it is hard to even find a place that has even heard of gluten. We really feel the need to educate people around here.

So am I the only crazy, over protective Mom here??!!!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

Virgie

son 18 UC, EE, IBS, asthma & daughter 13 Celiac

[dandelionmom]

So am I the only crazy, over protective Mom here??!!!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

Virgie

son 18 UC, EE, IBS, asthma & daughter 13 Celiac

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! You are not the only crazy, over protective mom here; I am one too!

The idea of a potluck makes me want to cry! My DD will have a "safe snack box" with her where ever we go through all the holidays and we've adopted a "when in doubt don't eat it" policy. I'm the most worried about meals with my ILs so we're eating before going to their gatherings.

[missy'smom]

For the restauraunt, call ahead and talk to the manager and plan ahead so that when you walk in the door you'll know what she's going to order, if necessary go through the manager again to place your order. If you can choose the restaurant, pick one that works with fresh, raw ingredients if possible.

For the potluck bring a dish or more to share that she can eat and make sure she gets served first or keep a portion aside for her. Ask questions about any dishes that seem simply prepared or are something that you are somewhat familiar with. I brought three dishes to a potluck once just so that I would have something to eat. It is a bit of a burden but in the end I would rather bring my own food and enjoy the social aspect of being around others than sit at home. It can take some people days to recover from even the slightest bit of gluten. It's just not worth the risk.

[Joni63]

Hi Virgie,

Sounds like your daughter is really being responsible. I give her a lot of credit at 13. I also worry about cross contamination. In fact my mom invited me and my family to go out to dinner for Thanksgiving so no one would have to cook this year. I declined. I just couldn't deal with the hastle of calling a local restaurant, which like yours is clueless in the small town I live in. Like you, I think it's not worth the risk.

I did go to my sons Boy Scout dinner that was potluck. I made a chicken/rice/broccoli casserole in case it was my only choice. I did have some ham that was in pineapple juice with brown sugar and also a few raw veggies, no dip. I made out fine and it was good to be there and not feel totally secluded from the world. But there were so many combination foods and desserts...I knew it would be too much to try and find out what was in those dishes.

I totally agree with you about educating the people in your town. Is there a local Celiac Support Group in your area. I've often thought about starting a group in my area. It is needed so badly. Just to solicit one restaurant as a group that would be willing to listen...would be so nice. I just have so many things I'm doing right now for my 2 children that unfortunately I don't have the time. I would so gladly love to see it happen though. Maybe there is a group semi-local to you that would be willing to help educate the restaurants and grocery stores in your area.

[KaitiUSA]

I'm not a mom yet but I understand where you are coming from and I know my mom feels the same way even now when everyone is used to dealing with my diet. Good luck and I'm sure it will all be great. Your daughter sounds very responsible for dealing with this for her age. There is so much good stuff we can eat so it makes it a little bit easier.

[wowzer]

So far I've found eating at family functions almost worse than eating out. I survived Thanksgiving with no problems. I did have to come home to eat turkey. I took a waldorf salad, I should have also taken a dessert. I'll plan better for Christmas.

[confusedks]

Hello Virgie,

It's great to "see" you online again. I know that Thanksgiving has already passed, but for the upcoming holidays, you could maker her her own plate of food. I was going to bring a stuffed cornish game hen with a mini pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving (I ended up sick..so I didn't, but was a good idea). That way you wouldn't have to worry about CC.

I hope this helps. I hope your son is feeling okay.

Kassandra

[Virgie]

Hi again! Well we did make it through the holiday. I made my daugher a gluten free pumpkin pie that tasted fairly good. She ate it anyway. And my hubbys brother, sister-in-law & family were excellent always asking my daughter about what she could eat and asked if she wanted to cut up the celery, and prepare other foods if she was worried about cross contamination & such. So that day went pretty good. Sunday was another story. Went out to eat and she just didn't trust eating anything so she just drank some milk. And something still probably didn't sit right with her because she didn't feel good and had the worst smelling gas ever. We really hate eating out. It just seems so hard. She has an appt. at Mayo next month & I would also like to see if she could get in to see a dietian as I am not sure she is geting all the vitamins she needs and such. Always something.

Next Monday I will have surgery on my hand. I have had carpal tunnel for 18 years and did have my right hand done 9 years ago but have been putting off the left hand. And I hope everything goes ok that morning because my son hates Monday mornings. Well mornings in general are awful for him. He usually has nausea, fatigue, & dizziness. So I hope next week he won't have that. He has been under alot of stress with school as he is taking both college & High School courses. And he missed about 20 days of school last quarter which didn't make it any easier. So I have been feeling a little stressed too and haven't been on as much lately. I have been thinking about you & your family and hoping that the diet change has helped your kiddo. Hopefully she doesn't find it as hard as my daughter does. Mine does really good with reading labels & that sort of thing. For her it is more emotional. She hates fast food commercials and yells at the TV. But she is campaigning to make people more aware of Celiac so I am proud of her for handling that so well. And she doesn't cheat which I am glad that she has no desire to cheat at all.

Well, I have to see if my kids are feeling better and ready to go to school. Hate mornings. And it is the same on the weekends too so its not that the kids hate school or anything like that. In fact daughter got on the A Honor Roll. She is a smartie (doesn't get it from me).

Take care & write when you can. I am anxious to know how everything is going with you.

Virgie

Hello Virgie,

It's great to "see" you online again. I know that Thanksgiving has already passed, but for the upcoming holidays, you could maker her her own plate of food. I was going to bring a stuffed cornish game hen with a mini pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving (I ended up sick..so I didn't, but was a good idea). That way you wouldn't have to worry about CC.

I hope this helps. I hope your son is feeling okay.

Kassandra

[buffettbride]

Thanksgiving went really well for us, and it wasn't even 100% gluten free. The turkey was fine and I made gluten-free stuffing and mashed potatoes and some Chebe rolls. That was what my daughter wanted.

Christmas I expect to be a bit trickier. One, because of the disappointment of not being able to eat many of the goodies readily available. We are combating this by doing a lot of baking together (my daughter is 10) and making lots of things she CAN have.

As for all the family dinners (we'll have 4 of them) we haven't figured out what we're going to do to keep those safe as we are not hosting any of them. It will probably be a combination of bringing her food with maybe 1-2 other family members we trust to make a few items gluten-free.

My daughter is also very good about not cheating because it's just so awful when she gets sick, plus, who wants to be sick on Christmas!

[Darn210]

I think we did pretty good . . . hard to tell since my daughter is a silent celiac (I think . . . we can't possibly have gone this long without an accidental glutening).

Thanksgiving was at my Mom&Dad's. I brought a safe turkey breast to cook & share. The ham was safe (which I also cooked). I feel like I was the drill sargent in the kitchen - "No, you can't use that. Get a clean one"; "You have to use an unopened stick of butter"; "You can't have that one, it's for the kids" Then, when the buffet line was ready, I announced to the crowd of 20 that my kids were going first in case the rest of them screwed everything up! My family are all good sports. I know a lot of people can't get away with this without having a family meltdown, but my family does very well as long as it is handled with humour.

[Virgie]

"I feel like I was the drill sargent in the kitchen - "No, you can't use that. Get a clean one"; "You have to use an unopened stick of butter"; "You can't have that one, it's for the kids" Then, when the buffet line was ready, I announced to the crowd of 20 that my kids were going first in case the rest of them screwed everything up! "

That is exactly how I felt - like a drill sargent or something. I hope I don't feel like this at every holiday!! My husbands side was really pretty good. Now my Mother (I love her honestly) still thinks it can't be that bad if she eats a little bit or if she uses the same cutting board, etc. She also thinks that my daughter won't have to do this for life just for a couple of years. And I can't let the doctors talk me into everything. Sigh!! Time for more education Iguess.

We'll see how Christmas goes next.

virgie

[Dramagal]

This gluten free stuff is all new to me. I haven't yet gotten half my family even updated about my daughter's newly found gluten intolerance. But I'm struggling away, trying to make it work. I'm concerned about Christmas too. Do you have to call every manufacturer to find out if there may be gluten in stuff that's not on the label? Christmas is the one time of year we eat so much more packaged stuff (cookies, candies, whatever).

We've been trying to do the gluten-free diet for about a month, but my daughter still has almost constant headaches and stomach aches. Her attention span has improved, though, and she seems calmer. Could it be she's detoxifying from the gluten? Or could it be I'm not being diligent enough to ward off trace amounts of gluten she may be getting?

[kevsgirl]

I offered to cook thanksgiving for my family this year. I was WAY stressed over it all. I had to tell my mother not to bring anything because although she means well something always goes wrong. (We are dealing with many more food allergies as well as gluten free) 2 other family members brought a fruit salad and cranberries respectivly and both from scratch.

This is the first holiday with all these food restrictions for us. I made a turkey in the oven. I made stuffing from rice bread and olive oil and home made chicken stock in a pan on the tove. It came out so good and I was SO nervous it would be aweful! I also made several fresh veggies. The neat thing was I made an apple and a pumpkin desert. They were as close to pies as I could get without any additional stress. Everyone loved them. (I even used real fresh pumpking from a local farm!)

I cried a LOT leading up to Thanksgiving. I have to say - we just dont go out to eat anymore. It makes some people mad but it just isnt worth it! With all the dietary issues we have several of us are simply miserable because there is NOTHING we can eat out. We did once contact a restaurant ahead and go during a non-crowded time - but it was SO expensive that again - just NOT worth it. Because of our other restrictions cross contamination is such an issue that I feel nervous just being at the tables.

As for Christmas I am telling all friends and aquatances in our sphere NOT to bring any edibles to our house. That way we can avoid an uncomfortable situation from occuring. Sadly it is HARD to handle situations elsewhere and unforseen! We were at a dance class recently where a family was passing out cupcakes. They included every allergy and aversion we have. All those kids hands and clothing covered in the stuff. Some of my affected children are small. This was aweful! We had a similar run in with candy recently. Unwrapped filled chocolates were handed out to students as they left the classroom. My child ate one before I even knew they were available! The reactions lasted for the next week! It's so frustrating. So many people have no concern what so ever either - the looks I got for declining the cupcakes (and politly too). Bottom line for us - bring our own items when we leave home (obviously a royal pain) and stay home instead of going to organized gatherings - just less painful.

Best wishes all around!

[Dramagal]

The restaurant stuff is an issue with us. My family insists on eating out from time to time and I don't feel it's ever really "safe." (It's also too expensive, in my opinion. )It's weird that I'm the one arguing against it when I'm the one that does most of the cooking and this gives me a break! I just wish my husband would learn more about gluten intolerance so we could pull together a bit more in the same direction. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get a spouse more in touch with gluten issues?

[celiacgirls]

I just wish my husband would learn more about gluten intolerance so we could pull together a bit more in the same direction. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get a spouse more in touch with gluten issues?

Just stick with it and he will learn. My husband didn't really get it for close to a year when I got upset over cc. Now, there have been enough times that it has happened that even he agrees, I think. At least he has stopped complaining about it. I think when your husband sees the positive change going gluten free makes, he will figure it out.

I get anxious over eating at my family's house and they are mostly gluten-free with a few special dishes for the gluten eaters. They just don't worry about cc for themselves and although they try when I am there, it is a hard habit to get into. At every one else's house, I bring my own food. Ever since I ate at Disney World, where I can tell they get the whole cc issue, I have just not eaten in a restaurant. I just get a drink.