October Editor's Letter

As a teacher, I dealt with food allergies in the classroom and that, to me, was scary stuff. The experience planted a bit of fear in me: What if I had a child of my own with food allergies?  I read a lot on ways to try to prevent food allergies. I didn’t eat certain foods while pregnant, and my older didn’t eat peanut butter until the age of 3. I followed the same course for my younger, but we never made it to 3 without peanut butter. When she was 2, at a library story time she and I made a bird feeder with peanut butter and bird seed. In the 5-minute ride home from the library, she broke out in hives and her throat swelled. Off to the allergist we went for testing and, sure enough, she had a severe peanut allergy.

Thus began my journey as a mom of a child with a peanut allergy. She’s now 11 and still tests severely allergic to peanuts, so our journey continues. Yes, there are times it’s hard and I have to be extra vigilant (and teach her to do the same and be an advocate for herself). And, I agree that it seems as if you hear of more and more children with this allergy. Karen Johnson takes a look at peanut and other food allergies.

Fall is here with all its glory, and that means there is so much to do all over Kansas City. Lauren Greenlee offers tips on great places to see the colorful fall leaves. And our talented Craft Corner writer, Megan Kapple, shares how to make a darling painted twig bouquet. So much fall fun packed into this issue—enjoy!

Happy Fall and Happy Cool Nights, Kansas City!