This post best pairs with “I’m Allergic to Cats” from The Theory of Relativity (2016).
When working with kids you absolutely must know three things: 1) their first AND last name 2) their emergency contact information and 3) if they have any allergies or medical issues.
Allergies are no joke. I thank my lucky stars every day that I do not have any allergies. Parents of children with food allergies have to be more trusting of others every single day than most of us could imagine.
During my time at VACT, we had a few regulars with severe peanut allergies. Whenever one of these kids was in our program, we sent extensive notices that kids were not to bring nut products in their lunches or snacks.
Well, we all know that not every parent reads every email as diligently as they should and even those who do sometimes just plain forget. They are human. It happens.
It was the first day of summer camp back in 2016 and the children were starting their lunch break. We made an announcement that if anyone accidentally brought nut products in their lunch they needed to come to us immediately.
Three campers shamefully came up to our staff table with their peanut butter sandwich bags in hand.
We didn’t have any alternative lunch options available and knew that the kids would be starving by the end of the day if they didn’t get to eat the main component of their lunch.
So I took the three kids and sat them on a set piece at the far edge of the room. I then put some fence set pieces around them because a) I would know exactly the area that peanut products had been in and where to sanitize and b) it looked funny to have the three kids sitting in a little Peanut Butter Jail.
Ironically, the three kids trapped together in Peanut Butter Jail for the thirty minute lunch break hardly knew each other. Therefore, my antics provided them with a chance to bond with someone new over something ridiculous.
One thing is for sure though, they never brought nut products to VACT again.
Tales From A Hometown Community Theater 