The person who sent the nasty text. Please try to keep up. |
I think you need to go back and reread the initial post, in which the OP states, "I goofed. . . . In all the chaos, I totally spaced out when planning DS’s birthday party. . . . I was mortified, admitted I had been completely preoccupied lately and had simply forgotten his nut allergy since I hadn’t seen him in a while. I apologized profusely[.]" Sounds to me like she takes responsibility. One thing that has been lost in the (often ridiculous) back and forth is the reason for the irate text. From the OP, "The next day I got a nasty text from my friend, wondering why I had served candy with nuts when it was so upsetting to her son." In other words, the friend wasn't afraid that her kid could have come to harm, but was angry that he was upset that others had nuts. That's ridiculous. |
When you are a child, the onus is, in fact, actually on the adults responsible for your care to keep you safe. It’s strange how hard that is for you to grasp. Again do you let toddlers play unsupervised by the pool? |
Even people whose toddlers drown say they don't let them play by the pool. But accidents happen. You don't seem to grasp that. You think if someone says "Got it!" nothing bad will happen. |
DP. I don’t think it’s ridiculous. Long time family friend at worst could have killed her kid and at best made him feel completely excluded from the festivities. I don’t think OP is a bad person and obviously she didn’t do it on purpose, but I also don’t think friend’s “WTF, OP?” is out of line… |
Accidents happen, but there’s a difference between the idea that accidents happen and the idea that adults aren’t responsible for keeping children in their care safe. It’s why some accidents result in prosecution. |
OP doesn’t say what the kid was upset about. My guess is he was upset to realize how close he came to an exposure, your guess is he was upset because he wanted to eat candy. Neither of us actually knows. OP probably doesn’t either. |
Threatening people is meaningless. An accident is an accident. Nobody here forced the kid to eat candy or lied about it. Having nut candy is not illegal. |
Who was threatened? Having a car is not illegal— the accident happening where you leave your kid in it when it’s hot and they die can result in prosecution. Having a pool is it illegal; pool owners are often sued for negligence when children (AND adults over the age to know better, which is higher than eleven) die in their pools. And Disney is currently facing legal action for their response to a nut allergy of an adult physician who had the most opportunity possible to “know better”. I realize you don’t like kids with allergies. That doesn’t mean you are allowed to put them in danger. |
Restaurants are not friends. You can’t be this dense. |
Pools are an attractive nuisance, allergens aren’t. |
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By age 7/8 my allergy kid was advocating for himself. He knew to always ask before eating anything and was never shy about asking to see the box/wrapper to check the ingredients list himself. Before he was a good self-advocate, I always did a verbal reminder when dropping off with another parent. Also, for anyone with young kids with allergies, there are stickers you can buy on Amazon for pretty much every allergy. I used to stick them on my little kid's shirt (front & back) when doing a drop off playdate in addition to the verbal reminder. Those are especially helpful when it's a drop-off party at a play facility where multiple adults may be interacting with your kid without you there.
But at age 11? I think that was an overreaction on her part, IMO. The kid identified the food he couldn't have. He avoided. All was well. Maybe the mom needs to remind him that when those situations arise, don't be shy bringing it to the attention of the adult. "Oh, Mrs. Smith, I noticed these candy bars have nuts. I know not to eat those because of my allergy, but I'd like another snack. Do you have anything I could have, please?" That's a respectful and polite way to handle it. |
See what your homeowners insurance says when the kids health insurance sues you, which happens over much less negligence. Something tells me “bowl full of candy in a dark room with an eleven year old” is precisely going to meet the definition, especially since OP was well aware of the dangerous allergy. |
You are not a lawyer. Stop trying play one. |
You don’t need to be a lawyer to know that you are responsible for the safety of minor guests in your home. |