Can she tell one nut from the other?

When my daughter was small she continually broke out in rashes and would go from a sweet lovable child to a little monster in a matter of seconds. Her pediatrician suspected a food allergy. I kept a log of her rashes, behavior, and food intake for a week then took her to the allergist. We found out, much to our surprise, she was allergic to nuts and peanuts. When I looked back over the log it was obvious. Every time she had eaten anything with nuts or peanuts she had a reaction. We of course banned all nuts (except the human ones) from the house and made sure everyone knew she was allergic. Except for having to explain to a pre-school teacher that taking nuts out of the trail mix wasn’t acceptable we haven’t had any problems.

I was searching tonight for information about peanut allergies when I came across this:

Nut-Allergic Kids: Nut Mix-up CommonYoungsters Can’t Tell One Nut from Another — Even If Their Lives Depend on It

It made me think, would she know a nut if she saw one? If she was at someone’s house and was offered a pistachio, cashew, or almond would she know it was a nut? What about pecan pie or pralines? She would turn down a peanut, or hazelnut. They have nut in the name. She even turns down coconut even though she’s not allergic to that. ‘It’s better to be safe than sorry’ she says.

As she is getting older, I’m not always there to watch out for her, and I am getting very very scared. What else have I not thought about telling her? What basic information that she needs to get by in this world have I taken for granted? She is half way to being an adult and there is no way I can fit everything in before she stops listening to me.

So, I’m going to sit here and cry for a little while. Then I’m going to print out pictures of nuts. I
need to start somewhere.