{Another} Epic Fail...

So, I've already acknowledged and accepted the fact that I'm not winning any parenting awards.  I will never be mom of the year.  I don't make homemade crafty things.  I don't have a snack waiting for my kids when they get home from school.  I've been known to make pancakes for supper.  I don't think I'm a bad parent, just not Suzy Homemaker.


A few weeks ago Noah was snack boy for his preschool.  What is snack boy, you ask?  Well, all the kids are assigned a day every few months to bring a snack to share with the class.  During snack time that child will help distribute the snacks and be the 'snack helper'.  Apparently it's a big deal when you're 4.  I dunno.

Noah had already been snack boy in the fall but I totally stole someone else's idea of making little baggies of Golden Graham cereal, mini-marshmallows, and chocolate chips...smores in a bag.  This time I wanted to do something more original.  That should have been my first inkling there's a problem; I was trying too hard.  I scoured Pinterest and googled ideas for preschool snacks.  One idea that kept popping up was puppy chow.  Ya know, that glorious snack food made with rice chex, chocolate and powdered sugar?  I have always loved the stuff and since Noah loves anything both sweet and messy, it seemed like a great idea.

So one evening I made a ginormous batch of the stuff, packaged it up in little individualized baggies, and brought it to Noah's school.  He was so excited.  He grinned from ear to ear and announced to his teacher he was snack boy and we were having PUPPY FOOD!  The teacher just laughed.

Off I went on my cloud of joyous accomplishment.  I felt like I had finally done something great.

Then I got the call.

It was the preschool.  Did I use peanut butter in the puppy chow?  Well yes, that's how you make it.  Uh...one of the kids in Noah's class has a peanut allergy.  So, they can't serve the snack.

OH mother trucker.  Seriously?  ONE kid is allergic and you have to scrap the entire thing?  Apparently some peanut allergies are just that severe.  I know for a fact that the mother of this child sends his own snack every day to prevent any reaction, but whatever.  Even the scoopful of peanut butter that's mixed with the chocolate then smothered in powdered sugar can cause a problem.

Bottom line, they couldn't serve the snack.  I had failed my son.  Since NO ONE in my immediate circle of family or friends has a nut allergy it didn't even cross my mind that I needed to be aware of that.  Thinking back, at orientation I'm pretty sure the teachers did mention there was a nut allergy but really, who listens that closely!?  I'm pretty sure I had to pee during that part so my brain wasn't functioning properly.

When I picked up Noah that day he was devastated.  He cried and cried the entire way home.  "THEY SAID IT WASN'T SAFE!" Oops.  My bad.  Chalk that one up to another mommy failure.

But we all ate puppy chow for the next week, peanut butter and all.  And it was delicious.   And sometimes that was supper.  Peanut butter's a protein, right?  ;)