Christmas Day, Everone Brought Gluten!

[norahsmommy]

I knew people were going to bring some gluten stuff. Its a given with all the holiday baking. My house is totally gluten free because I kept contaminating my daughter's food. I though, well I will just have to clean really well after they leave. Make sure the counters are really scrubbed down. Well we have a tiny house. There were 11 people and EVER single person brought a gluten item. Cookies, meatballs with bisquick, cheesy potatoes with either flour or bread crumbs, crackers, rolls, pecan pie. It was all over. They ate at my dinning table, on the couches in the living room, on the coffee table, standing in the middle of a room. They ALL got crumbs everywhere. My carpet, the coffee table, the couches the kitchen floor. My daughter was crawling all over the place and I was holding her alot when I noticed all the crumbs. They kept saying "put her down you'll spoil her" and they would LICK their fingers and then pick her up and touch her hands and face. My mom was in the fridge and saw our 6 dollar loaf of Udi's bread and nearly died of shock. She lectured me on the expense and said she would never do that. Well we dont' eat bread every day and my daughter does deserve to eat bread now and then! My MIL stuffed our fridge with uncovered pies and there are crumbs all over the fridge. I feel like my house is a war zone right now! Every surface has the potential to make my daughter sick. URG! I am trying to be accommodating, nice, respectful but I swear I can't tolerate gluten in my house! Maybe if they were all really careful and not slobs! Well that last part was a little rude. I know things dribble or crumb everywhere. Its just so hard to make sure its all cleaned up!

[Roda]

It's your house so you can set the rules for noone to bring in gluten. Maybe next time you could just do a collection of money and do all the shopping/preparing yourself (maybe family would be willing to come over and help) that way you know she is safe.

[Jestgar]

Ghastly isn't it? It's amazing ho much that stuff has invaded our food. Sorry about all the cleaning you have to do now.

[norahsmommy]

Ghastly isn't it? It's amazing ho much that stuff has invaded our food. Sorry about all the cleaning you have to do now.

I didn't have a good time at all. I watched the kids open gifts from family and that was nice, but then I started noticing all the crumbs and I was miserable.

[norahsmommy]

It's your house so you can set the rules for noone to bring in gluten. Maybe next time you could just do a collection of money and do all the shopping/preparing yourself (maybe family would be willing to come over and help) that way you know she is safe.

I know but I guess I am too nice. They all already think I am nuts. I just didn't want them to think badly of me I guess. Sad I know.

[kareng]

I just say not to bring anything. That leaves me to do it all but it's easier. You will have to be forceful with your side of the family. Your hub must deal with his side, particularly his mom.

It will be harder next year. She will be able to grab food or accept it from others but not old enough to understand why they are eating stuff she can't have.

[kareng]

I know but I guess I am too nice. They all already think I am nuts. I just didn't want them to think badly of me I guess. Sad I know.

We were typing at the same time so I didn't see this.

You have to do what you need to do to keep your child safe. If they were setting lit cigarettes and medications out where your child could get them, is that Ok? No, you or your hub would be all over it. Your nuts, accept it!

[norahsmommy]

We were typing at the same time so I didn't see this.

You have to do what you need to do to keep your child safe. If they were setting lit cigarettes and medications out where your child could get them, is that Ok? No, you or your hub would be all over it. Your nuts, accept it!

thanks =) I know I am nuts. My dh thinks I am great but at the same time thinks I am OCD about this. I try so hard to make sure my daughter doesn't get gluten but then in the back of my mind I wonder, does she REALLY have a problem? Maybe I am going overboard. Then she gets gluten and she is miserable and I get fresh evidence that she can't have it. She isn't diagnosed yet, she is gluten free and I can't bring myself to give her gluten 3 times a day for something like 2 months for tests to be accurate. I think thats why family gives me such a hard time. She doesn't have paperwork saying she can't have it so it must be me overreacting.

[Jestgar]

I know but I guess I am too nice. They all already think I am nuts. I just didn't want them to think badly of me I guess. Sad I know.

It will get easier for you to get pushy. Over time, as you see how well your daughter is when she's eating properly, and how sick she gets when she isn't, you'll stop caring what people think and just tell them what they are going to do. It's all a process.

[Mizzo]

That is the reason I refused to have Thanksgiving or Christmas at my house this year. I was able to pack a gluten-free meal and snacks for my dd and not have to worry about it. I if I demanded no gluten they wouldn't of come anyway so it was no gluten food or have it at your house. They wanted gluten so they hosted it worked out fine.

[momtok&m]

I just say not to bring anything. That leaves me to do it all but it's easier. You will have to be forceful with your side of the family. Your hub must deal with his side, particularly his mom.

It will be harder next year. She will be able to grab food or accept it from others but not old enough to understand why they are eating stuff she can't have.

My 23 month old has been gluten free for over a year now, well longer than that but that's when our doc finally said No Gluten! Anyway, she has never been upset over not getting a piece of cake, a cookie, mac & cheese, etc. that her cousins have at their grandmas house. I try to take a little something that's a good substitute but occasionally (well, okay, often) I forget and it doesn't phase her. We make sure to tell all of the other children to never give her food and we always brush crumbs off of the table. We also try not to make huge deal out of anything, we just simply tell her "I'm sorry, you can't have that, it has gluten in it."

For holidays at our house I always cook the main dish and we have an email list that circulates where everyone writes down what they are bringing. I'll assign certain dishes to the more understanding people so I'm sure there is no gluten. Then, I make a gluten-free version of some of the other sides. I try to tell everyone not to worry about bringing crackers because I have plenty-that way I know they're all rice or nut. I also bake the pies so I can control the gluten and gluten-free versions. It gets easy over time, believe me! Even at the houses that aren't gluten-free

[Wolicki]

thanks =) I know I am nuts. My dh thinks I am great but at the same time thinks I am OCD about this. I try so hard to make sure my daughter doesn't get gluten but then in the back of my mind I wonder, does she REALLY have a problem? Maybe I am going overboard. Then she gets gluten and she is miserable and I get fresh evidence that she can't have it. She isn't diagnosed yet, she is gluten free and I can't bring myself to give her gluten 3 times a day for something like 2 months for tests to be accurate. I think thats why family gives me such a hard time. She doesn't have paperwork saying she can't have it so it must be me overreacting.

The LIE to them and tell them all that she has been officially diagnosed, so that they will take it seriously. I usually do not recommend lying to loved ones, but your child's health is worth it. Some people just don't get it. At Thanksgiving, all my inlaws kept dipping crackers into this lucious cheese dip, even after I explained cc. They did it again at Christmas. So, now we bring our own things, keep them covered and don't touch the rest. Really, LIE to them!

[dilettantesteph]

It sounds like a nightmare. I'm sorry that you had to go through this, and I hope that you got your place cleaned up adequately. You are going to have to put your foot down for the sake of your child. Relatives will be a good place to get some practice. You will have a more difficult time with the schools. You will have to get very good at advocating for your child.