Field trip to baseball game- UPDATE

[notnutty]

I know we have had this issue before on the boards, but I can't find a link, so I thought I would start another one.

My DS's school (all of 5th grade) is going to a major league baseball game in a few weeks.  I am trying to figure out if DS will be able to attend.  We have attend 2 games in the past with DS at this baseball field, but each time we were in special peanut-free seating.

This time he would be in general seating with the rest of his class of about 200 kids. 

The school has proposed no peanuts allowed in the 2 rows in front and behind of him (as well as the row he is in).  This chaperone would sit close to him and monitor him.

IDK...I am just unsure if this will be enough to keep him safe.  The last time DH and I attended w/out DS we sat in the general seating on a windy day and we left with peanut residue all over ourselves...clothes and jackets covered from the shells and dust blowing around.

WWYD?  Has anyone here had success at a major league stadium in general seating?

I want to make this work for DS, but I am nervous that it is just simply not possible.

[Mfamom]

My ds has been to a lot of Yankee's games and no problems.  Is there any way you or your dh can attend?  I always worry about people throwing peanut shells for some reason, but its never happened. 
Maybe you can have his teacher or someone walk the isle first and wipe off his seat?  I would need to know that if he feels uncomfortable in any way that someone will listen and help him . 
Tough decision

[notnutty]

I think the logical part of my brain keeps thinking the accommodations will work, but my heart is telling me to think it through a little more.  It's just so hard.

Yes, DH or I will attend with him.  I have not told the school our plans yet, because I wanted to see what they would come up with first.

If I had not attended on a windy day and left full of peanut dust, I would not be so nervous.  This would be the most exposure he has had to residue since his last anaphylactic reaction in 2008.  We are on a roll and I would just hate to screw it up.

Thanks Mfamom for sharing.  I know it can be done, but I keep playing the "what ifs" in my head. KWIM?

[my3guys]

With that kind of buffer, I think it could be done...but how will it be done?  They'll just make all the kids in those rows not get peanuts? Will that go over ok with the kids do you think or would anyone make him uncomfortable or embarassed about the restriction on eating? 

What about after the game and boarding the bus? Do they go back to class or are they dismissed?

I went with my ds to a local league baseball birthday party, and the eat or not to eat peanuts and where people were sitting turned into an uncomfortable thing for ds.  This was a party where we didn't know the family well...and afterwards, I wish I had him skip it.  I think he also had a reaction that night: headache and dizziness, nothing else, that returned as soon as the benadryl wore off.  Kids were right near him eating peanuts at points.  I actually thought of you because I think you (?) once described a reaction with these symptoms, which I why I thought it was a reaction and treated it like one.

We've been to a few major league games in regular seating, but try to pick a row where there's a natural buffer...preferably no rows behind us, a break in the section.  DS still sits with his shirt over his mouth and nose for a good chunk of the game and is pretty distracted.

IDK, it's a tough call.  In addition to the safety factor, I'd think a bit more about the logistics of the proposed buffer.  What if some kids want to start switching with each other because they want to eat peanuts etc?  Would things like that bother your ds?

Good luck...allergies just suck sometimes. 

[yelloww]

Ds went to a minor league game without me once but it was a kids summer camp game and they didn't sell nuts at all on purpose. I'd lobby to chaperone unless the entire facility is pn free.

Eta- we have been to both major and minor league games without issues. However, I do take precautionary measures such as ds throwing away his sneakers before getting into the car to go home. We keep beater sneakers around for this purpose.

Wind is probably the biggest issue when it comes to flying pn shells in parks.

[notnutty]

We spoke to DS last night and asked him how he felt about it. DH and I explained the situation and what we would do to make it as safe as possible and ultimately he said he will feel left out, but that he does not want to go. 

There is a reason this park offers 10 games a year with designated PF seating. It is a wind tunnel and I just don't think with his reaction history this would be a good idea.

I am sad, but I feel grateful that my little man can think through this and tell us what he thinks.  He said he just does not want to have a reaction or feel terrible. I don't think he is making this decision out of fear, but it just does not seem worth it to him.

We do have tickets for PF seating in August, so he knows he will get to go then.

Yes, LTFA suck and I just hate these hard decisions...

[Mfamom]

I'm sorry, notnutty. 
My ds initially had same decision about the 8th grade field trip.  he is going now, but I think he just didn't want the hassle etc of dealing with the food etc.
I'm glad you'll be able to take him to a game at another time.

[ryanmn]

We are taking our kids to a Twins game at the end of next month in the peanut free section.  These tickets sold in a day!!  I think
there were 8 or 10 games to choose from.  I would not take him to a game unless it was in this situation, it's just not worth it to me.
Some kids never get to a professional game of any kind, allergies or not, so if you get a chance to go to one of those games, I would.
Good luck!!

[notnutty]

We are taking our kids to a Twins game at the end of next month in the peanut free section.  These tickets sold in a day!!  I think
there were 8 or 10 games to choose from.  I would not take him to a game unless it was in this situation, it's just not worth it to me.
Some kids never get to a professional game of any kind, allergies or not, so if you get a chance to go to one of those games, I would.
Good luck!!

So you would not let your DS go for a field trip? It's killing me knowing he is going to be so left out.

[hedgehog]

Whether I would let him go would depend on the stadium.  I used to take DS to Diamondbacks games when we lived in Phoenix.  Yes, there were peanuts, but not all over.  Just not a hugely popular snack there.  Never much wind, because the roof was closed if it was that windy. 

But Fenway Park, we have only done PF seating with DS.  We have sat elsewhere without him.  Lots of people eat peanuts, sometimes it's windy, and vendors actually toss the bags of peanuts over people's heads.  Very scary. 

I let DS go on a field trip to a minor league game.  I was told no one on the trip would be allowed to have peanuts (they were all to eat the same snack).  I must have been told the seats would be cleaned first (I don't remember them saying that specifically, but I don't think I'd have said yes if that weren't the case).  But it turned out the field trip was cancelled anyway (reasons that had nothing to do with DS).

[notnutty]

Yeah, I think it has a lot to do with the stadium and the weather. We can only control those students from DS's school, and there will be several thousand people at the game.

This stadium really draws the people in. It is rare that the games are not filled or almost filled to capacity.

I'm going to let the school know today he won't be going. I have been such an advocate of inclusion that it just feels wrong to exclude him. I remember having this exact scenario discussed with the OCR. I said then a field trip to the ball park would not be possible.

We will have to find something fun to do instead.

[Mfamom]

I'm sorry Notnutty.  Is there any way that your dh can have means of transportation, give it a try and if things aren't right, they can leave?
I guess that each stadium is different.  I wish there was some way to make this work so your ds not left out. 

[notnutty]

update:

Field trip was today so DS and I had our own field trip.  Amazing things happen sometimes....

We decided to go to a zoo type attraction (can't give name, too identifying).  Anyway, when we arrived to pick up our tickets I pre-ordered, I was asked if we wanted to go on a tour.  They had someone in training and needed volunteers to go on the tour.

The tour started and it was just DS and me and the main tour guide and the person in training.  We got to go to the kitchen where the food was prepared, help feed some amazing fish, got to go behind the scenes (into the lab,etc...).

It was just such an amazing day.  DS was beaming ear to ear!  He even said it was better than a baseball game!

We ate lunch together and just had a fun day hanging out. 

[twinturbo]

Allow me to indulge in a philosophical moment... when our kids, as children under the power of adults who may not understand or care enough to keep them safe, have to deal with a hidden medical danger equipped with nothing between them and their triggers but their wits, the life lesson to follow your self-preservation instincts yet still continue the life's journey towards excellence, scholarship and finding joy is tremendous.

The saying In crisis there is opportunity is really overused but in the case of our kids I do believe the skills they hone in making tough choices in the face of adversity like this does foster ingenuity and discovery, and when it is not deal breaking, never-ending exclusion it could create parallel positives of leadership to the negatives of exclusion.

In the day you described the joy comes through. That it was an 'alternative' is merely situational.

[notnutty]

Yes, thank you!