To make a long story short... Avigayil told me on Friday that if she ate
milk or peanuts she could get very sick and would have to go to the
hospital (so far the expected and correct answer) and then she added
that she could *die*.

We have *never, ever* told her that. We figured that it was just too
scary for a four-year-old and stopped at the trip to the hospital and
lots of medicine part. I asked her where she got such an idea from and
she said that her teacher in preschool had told her! Words completely
fail me.

I had specifically told the teacher *not* to tell her what the worst
case was, but to emphasis the hospital helping her if the subject ever
came up.

This apparently happened over a month ago, and this teacher has
since quit of her own volition. That means I really don't have any
recourse for what I consider to be an appalling act. Her employers say
she will never work in the municipality school system again anyway,
since she left a class in the lurch in the middle of the year without
any extenuating circumstances.

Avigayil told me that when the teacher told her she could die she was
scared (no kidding!) but she only managed to tell me a month later after
presumably wondering about it all that time. She's had more exposure to
death and dying than most kids her age, and her level of understanding
includes that when you die you never get to see
your family again. This has been on her mind for a whole month.

With appropriate damage control and reinforcing the idea that the
hospital and her emergency Epipen would help her, I think she's OK. I
just wish the whole thing hadn't happened.

So, those of you with anaphylactic kids....When do you tell them just
how serious their allergy is? How have you dealt with this aspect of
being allergic? I think 4-years-old is way too young for the whole
truth. Any comments/discussion/experiences would be useful.

Thanks.

Debbie
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Debbie
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