Trying peanut butter for the first time has become a THING. At first it wasn’t a thing. And then kids everywhere got allergies. So then it was all WAIIIT until age two. No, three. Safer. Now it’s all try it right away! 4 months! 8 months! The longer you wait, the more likely they will have an allergy! Sigh. I don’t eat a lot of peanut butter and never thought to go out and buy it to conduct the “is she allergic” game but our doctor did tell us at Caroline’s 12 month check up that we should try it out. She also told us we should start brushing her teeth. Yes, all 6 of them.

And because we are always good about following rules, we decided 13 months was the perfect time to try peanut butter. And brush teeth. In that order 😉

And because Mike is Captain Safety, he insisted that the Great Peanut Butter Inaugural Eating Event would take place at the lovely and scenic ER parking lot (I swear I am not making this up).

Yes, that’s right. We got in our CAR on a rainy, grey, chilly Sunday, when we could have been snuggled inside, and drove 20 minutes to the ER where we put the car in park, Mike brought Caroline to the front seat, and opened the jar.

I was sitting in the passenger’s seat during The Great Experiment. I realize I would be viewed as an accomplice to the crazy, but I came along for the ride when I heard we’d be stopping for a chicken salad sandwich, which sounded amazing.

Mike had googled “symptoms of a peanut allergic reaction” because he is a Dad in 2018. One such symptom was “heavy breathing, indicating difficulty taking in oxygen or possibly obstructed airways.”

Caroline licked the tiny speck of peanut butter that Mike put on her lips. And then another. Mike waited with baited breath. Nothing happened. I started to eat my chicken salad sandwich, thinking one crazy parent doing the monitoring was enough.

That’s when we heard it. Heavy breathing. Almost panting. Mike said, “do you hear that? Do you hear how her breathing has changed??”

As Caroline lunged towards me, I shot Mike a look. “That,” I said, “is the sound your daughter makes when she wants to eat something that someone else has.” Sure enough, she only had eyes for that chicken salad sandwich.

Here we all are, in the car at the ER, having just survived The Great Peanut Butter Inaugural Eating Event:

Cheers to no peanut allergy…so far!