''It is always there mum. It's deadly.'' Just before the school trip to southern Morocco, Solange was preparing in her original way. Well organized: small written notes and messages, on coloured pieces of paper, with significant illustrations. Scotched on the shelf next to her bed. larger papers with information from the school attached on the magnet board up from the shelf. When I am admiring all her small treasures on the shelf and I notice the messages on the small memory cards. It's a pleasure to read and it makes me laugh in a happy way. Ordered and full of energy about the upcoming travel. One note is in a fat writing style and it is, as I will discover later, a message that she wrote a couple of time and scotched it on several important spots in the house. the fridge and the computer. It's in fact about her deadly allergies: ''get the message out to the principal and the chaperons with who I will travel during my Week Without Walls''¨!! ''Ask mum and dad to confirm''.!!
The way she makes notes is the way she eats. The precise way she cuts her food in pieces of the same size is the way she plans the steps to get ready for a test, a school trip, a treasure hunt for her sisters and their friends, a day of skiing with her Dad. This is about my allergy girl. It's her personality. Being organized while seriously allergic seems only very meaningful. She almost determinate her food, as if she is researching in a science lab. Could it be that by dividing the food on your plate in small portions, making a constellation, you get more aware about the food you taste? Does it make her feel more secure while examining the food? She''ll never miss once the occasion to come into the kitchen, lifts the lid, takes a spoon and stirs. Is there a bell that rings to alert her: ''Hey, your food is getting prepared, go and check¨''. She likes to control, have an overview and see if she gets enough. Is this 'getting enough thing'' something we should worry about? She is a teenager.. I think it's in her system. The moments she skips eating are still so many, the occasions that the food is there and she can eat it all, must be so fantastic that she wants the best pieces..... and maybe all off them. I can excuse her for that.
If you try to see it from her perspective, I should think the psychological impact of her allergies on her behaviour and feelings can't probably totally be ignored. This aspect is something I want to talk and write, together with Solange in a part of our book about her. I am challenged trough my colourful daughter to search and research, and to try to get a better understanding of the life from children and adolescents living with serious allergies. Love this writing, and since this morning I have somebody who will think and work together with me. That is awesome. Thanks.
The way she makes notes is the way she eats. The precise way she cuts her food in pieces of the same size is the way she plans the steps to get ready for a test, a school trip, a treasure hunt for her sisters and their friends, a day of skiing with her Dad. This is about my allergy girl. It's her personality. Being organized while seriously allergic seems only very meaningful. She almost determinate her food, as if she is researching in a science lab. Could it be that by dividing the food on your plate in small portions, making a constellation, you get more aware about the food you taste? Does it make her feel more secure while examining the food? She''ll never miss once the occasion to come into the kitchen, lifts the lid, takes a spoon and stirs. Is there a bell that rings to alert her: ''Hey, your food is getting prepared, go and check¨''. She likes to control, have an overview and see if she gets enough. Is this 'getting enough thing'' something we should worry about? She is a teenager.. I think it's in her system. The moments she skips eating are still so many, the occasions that the food is there and she can eat it all, must be so fantastic that she wants the best pieces..... and maybe all off them. I can excuse her for that.