Chip Chick
This woman’s husband has an ex-wife named Kate, and the three of them have been arguing about the extensive eating rules that Kate has placed on her 10-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son.
She and her husband really do not agree with these guidelines that Kate has set, but Kate has threatened to take them back to court to rearrange their custody agreement if they do not oblige.
Neither of the children has food allergies or sensitivities, but Kate has read a lot of online articles about alternative medicine and believes a lot of what she sees without question.
Initially, she and her husband tried to agree to Kate’s regulations because they understood that it was coming out of a place of love for the children. However, the list of rules has grown so large that it is simply too hard to follow.
Some of the rules that Kate has in place regarding the children’s eating include no gluten, no fruit after 5:00 p.m., no liquids during mealtime for directly before and after mealtime, no iced drinks, and 15 minutes of seated digestion time after each meal.
If she comes up with a new rule, she will add it to a shared spreadsheet along with a link to a resource that shows its importance. While the never-ending list may seem extensive, there’s a part of her that feels guilty for not following it due to her husband’s and Kate’s history.
Unfortunately, their third child passed away suddenly from a food allergy when he was only 3-months-old. At the time, they had left the three children with Kate’s niece to watch over them, and that night, the youngest child had a severe allergic reaction.
No one knew that he was allergic to anything, so Kate’s niece assumed that he was just sick and gave him a Benadryl in hopes that he would sleep it off.
“It was what led to their marriage breakdown, and Kate has been very fearful about what the other two kids eat ever since,” she explained.
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