livesinprogress: Gluten-Free VBS Updates

We didn't change much about the gluten-free VBS plan. What we did last year worked well. Here are the only updates I made:

Wren brought her own container of water. Last year I let her just use the water bottles provided, but I realized she couldn't open those herself and it's better if no one who has been in contact with gluten touches her food or drink. I know it's probably overkill, but I live by what one of the professionals helping us with her disease told me once: if you can anticipate any form of cross-contamination and stop it, do it. The reason: because it is virtually impossible for a Celiac to live uncontaminated. They will get contaminated by small things you don't even realize, so anticipate and avoid everything you possibly can.

I sent Wren with her own rag. Last year when I volunteered with the 2 year olds, I happened to run into Wren as I took a bathroom break. This was during her OCD time, which I wrote about for The Good Mother Project. I approached her and she said, "I can't wash my hands! My teacher won't let me wash my hands!" I know Wren's teacher and she is amazing. She took care of Wren all week, so I asked a few more questions and found out why she wasn't letting Wren wash her hands at that exact moment. The answer: because they weren't going to snack. They were going to the sanctuary for a Bible lesson. Wren had already fast forwarded and knew that snack was after Bible lesson. Instead of making the logical conclusion I did, that the teacher was going to let her wash her hands at one of the two bathrooms they would pass on their way to snack, Wren assumed she was going to have to eat with dirty hands or forgo snack time. This wasn't true, but in her mind it was. We would find out two weeks later that her selenium levels were too low and this was causing a large amount of mental distress for her. So this year, though she is not having as many issues with OCD, I sent a rag and told her if she ever became concerned to just wipe her hands off instead of stressing about it. I notice her OCD behavior tends to pick up in group settings where she is left to handle things on her own, so I'm hoping this will alleviate some of her concerns.

When we got to VBS the first day, the nurse on site as well as one of the VBS coordinators approached me to ask if there was anything they needed to know about Wren's situation. I told them that it's one of those situations where if she gets contaminated her body will start attacking itself, but we might not know it's even happening unless she starts vomiting. The damage plays out on the inside and increases risks of permenant damage throughout her life, but it can be invisible to the naked eye. We just have to know our girl can handle her business and go from there. They pointed me to teachers and told me they were there if we needed anything.

I'm not the only one creating safe places for the girl. She has a whole army looking out for her.