Goodbye, Paranoia!

We've been such diligently paranoid parents when it came to the Dude eating peanuts and beans. He wasn't even allowed to HOLD beans because we feared a reaction. We have conditioned him very carefully to check to make sure if something has peanuts in it or not. He cried on Halloween because he ate a bite of a Snickers bar (he checked with his friend to make sure it didn't have peanuts, first, but......). Not because anything actually hurt, but because he was so scared something might happen.

And then.

We got him tested.

It required much blood and wailing and gnashing of teeth and "Are we done now?"s.

And the results?

Negative. Nada. Nyet.

Not allergic to anything we tested for. Not beans. Not peanuts. Not peas. Not a LOT of things. Just a teeny tiny bit to milk. (And we already knew he couldn't have too much or else we get to play "How to Get the Dude to Stop Screaming in the Middle of the Night.")

So on one hand, we pass a hand over our brows and say, "Whew! Glad to have that off our list!" and the other, we say, "But really! He did have nasty reactions to peanuts and beans when he was younger! Really! Just smear some peanut butter on and see the rash!"

So what have we done to celebrate? Given him peanut butter, of course! Let him finish that Snickers bar! Introduce him to the wonderful world of beans! They have lots of fiber and protein! What I'm most excited about is that I can make chili and burritos and minestrone soup again.

After that minor matter of reversing this psychosis that we've carefully cultivated.