Ronald's Dairy

"Does this have dairy?" Jared is now a pro at asking that question. He asks it every time he is given something to eat. His teacher has special snacks for him. He takes his lunch to school every day, and he knows to not trade with a friend. You'd think we'd be doing great, right? Um... no.

The reason? I'm not with him all the time. When my parents have him, the conversation tends to go like this:
"Here, Jared, here's your wrap." - Granny
"Does it have dairy?" - Jared
"No." - Granny

"Hey, mom. What did you get Jared for lunch?" -me
"Oh, just a wrap from McDonald's." - Granny
"What was on it?" - me
"Nothing. I made sure it didn't have cheese. I told her three times he can't have cheese." - Granny
"Did it have Ranch on it?" - me
"Well, yes." - Granny

The sad thing is we have a conversation like this whenever my parents watch him. I guess it's hard to remember that dairy doesn't just mean milk and cheese. I know my parents love him deeply, so they don't do this on purpose. We live in a world where it's easy to go to a drive-thru instead of fix dinner. If you're not used to having to read labels or ask questions, it tends to be an inconvenience. It reminds me of a paper I worked on over 15 years ago titled, "The McDonaldization of Society."

My nieces are in town staying with my parents, so he's spending a lot of time over there. Even if I pack him his own food, there will be an inevitable conversation that usually starts with a, "He was so hungry. He ate 3 yeast rolls." {you know... the ones dripping in butter?}

So, this weekend he had some congestion and a cough. And, what was said? "I don't think this no-dairy thing is helping. Look, he's got a stuffed up nose!" I don't really know what to say about that. Part of me thinks it would be so much easier if we let him have dairy again, but the other part of me wonders if we can really adequately judge the situation if he has not been entirely off dairy. His schoolwork is good, but does it have to do with the dairy? I don't really know what I think, but I'm going to keep him off dairy at home and at school. I'm so thankful that he doesn't have a "true" allergy that has serious side effects. I think my parents and their McDonaldization of Society might not know how to cope.

Seek the Lord and his strength: seek his face evermore. Psalm 105:4 (KJV)