We are quickly approaching the stimulus overload, food holidays. These holidays clash completely with my kids and their special needs.
In the short time my kids have been alive we have spent three holidays in an emergency room. Three. The first one came as my youngest was just being diagnosed with his five anaphylactic food allergies. We were at the playground over a long holiday weekend.
My son, then a toddler, decided to sample a peanut butter sandwich that was on the tray of a stroller. He wound up having an anaphylaxis and I used his Epi-pen on him to save his life. Every single professional I encountered at the hospital told me over and over that I had saved my son’s life that day. It is something I can never forget.
The next Thanksgiving everyone in my family was freaking out about what to feed my son over the holidays because he is allergic to milk, egg, peanut, beef, and pork. The dinner was fine, but the activity after dinner was to decorate a gingerbread house. All the candy was allergen-free but sister never checked the gingerbread. It was made with peanut oil! My son never ingested the gingerbread house but he touched it, and then touched his face. His eyes swelled shut and he started vomiting from the reaction. We went to the hospital and they prescribed steroids to help stop the reaction and the rebound that comes with food allergy reactions.
Then again, the Thanksgiving after that we tried again to celebrate with family. I brought food for my younger son, which left him with a normal dinner for himself on a holiday. Dinner was a loud, crowded event. This completely set off my older son’s sensory issues. He could not eat and escaped the table to the outside. While trying to settle himself with large muscle movement he threw a log high in the air. That same log came to earth and hit him in the head. He required six staples that evening but being we went to a quiet suburban emergency room we made it back to the party for dessert.
Since then, everything has changed. My oldest sister is an empty nester who turned sixty this month and her children all either live out of state and out of the country. She travels to be with her adult children on the holiday. My father has passed and my mother is an elderly snowbird who is in Florida at the first sign of cold weather.
My little family has created a tradition for the holiday’s over the last five years. We call it “Sweatpantgiving,” but it can easily be called “Sweatpantmas,” except Sweatpantmas includes presents.
First, we wear sweatpants ALL day. We wake up, get dressed, and put on the most comfortable clothes we can find. If your t-shirt has a hole it is perfect for the holiday. Next I cook, and I cook, and I cook. I make a feast. Kids have small stomachs so we have the appetizers at lunch. Shrimp is a favorite, as are veggies and dip, chips, all that stuff you eat before a big holiday meal except we eat this at 11am! Then we play. If it is nice we go outside and sometimes we go for a hike. Later we might watch a movie or play video games. Then we feast.
The dinner is the traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas fare that is allergen-free for my younger son; we eat at about 5 or 6pm. We set a fancy table with cloth napkins and still wear our sweatpants and holey t-shirts. It feels oh, so decadent. We chat, talk, and catch up as a family which is rare in our on-the-go lives.
Right before bed, we end our evening with pie. Although I am known for baking vegan-allergen-free hockey pucks, I am great with pie. I can make a killer vegan pumpkin pie and I make the favorite soy based banana cream pie with soy whipped cream and Oreo’s, which are allergen free for our family.
We then have leftovers that last three or more days which becomes my holiday from cooking. Who is with me?!!
Sweatpantgiving might be a little lonely, but it is a great way to celebrate.