Sum…Sum…Summertime!

By Danna Korn

Being gluten-free shouldn’t affect your summer plans.

Right about April is when it happens at our house. With Easter barely behind us, the kids start whining, “Will school EVER be over?” Um … excuse me … didn’t we just get back from Spring break?!? It’s understandable; I remember the feeling well. I couldn’t WAIT for the final bell that marked (sing it with me now): Schoooooool’s out for SUMMUH!

But what’s music to the kids’ ears is sometimes bittersweet for parents. Sure, the days of frantically packing the kids up for school and getting them out the door on time are behind you. So are the long hours of homework, the struggles to get them in bed on “school night” time, and the “I have absolutely nothing to wear EVER” tantrums (well, maybe not). But with those lazy, hazy days of summer sometimes comes the “B” word. You know the one: Boredom.

Call us crazy, but we parents just can’t approve of 16 hours of TV a day. Sleeping till noon? I think not. Staving off the boredom-blues seems at times to be a full-time job. Those educational math and science workbooks SOUND like a great idea, but in our house, at least, we rarely made it past page five.

So what’s a family to do? Lots of things! You can travel (even a mini-vacation is fun), send the kids (or parents) to summer camps, embark upon a family fitness program, or spend time cooking yummy summer goodies.

But my family is gluten-free….

Yeah? That’s okay. You may just have to be a little more creative about things. There’s no reason your gluten-free lifestyle should affect your summer plans.

Travel

Traveling gluten-free is just a matter of planning ahead. Just how you’ll accommodate the diet depends upon your mode of transportation, whether you’re traveling within or outside the United States, and whether you’ll be staying at a cabin, resort, hotel, or condo.

There are so many fun ideas to help you with gluten-free travel that we’ve decided to dedicate an entire article to gluten-free traveling; stay tuned for that in an upcoming article on Gluten-Free Choices!

Summer camps

Sending your kids away to camp can be difficult. Oh, don’t misunderstand me … I’m not saying it’s tough because of the gluten-free diet. It’s saying good-bye that’s the hard part! Whether you’re sending your kids to a day camp or a long summer camp, if they’re gluten-free, you can send them worry-free.

There are some camps that specialize in the gluten-free diet. A quick perusal of the internet will turn them up. Those, of course, are the least worrisome for you. Others specialize in other types of restricted diets – camps for diabetic kids, for instance. They can usually accommodate the gluten-free diet pretty easily, too.

But don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to specialty camps. Your gluten-free kids can go ANYWHERE! There are a few important things you can do to help:

• Talk with counselors and cooks in advance. Find out who’s in charge of meals and meet in person or by phone to discuss the intricacies of the gluten-free diet. Of course if you can give them a copy of “Kids with Celiac Disease” or any of my other books, it will be helpful, because they’ll have a more thorough understanding of the condition and why it’s important to be strict about adherence. Make sure you give them plenty of time to make arrangements for your child’s dietary needs. Remember to discuss preparation techniques so they understand how to avoid contamination during preparation and serving.
• Send food. Some camps can’t permit this for licensing reasons, in which case you’ll default to the tip above. But if they’ll allow you to send food, do so – pack up all of your child’s favorite treats and send them along. Perishable foods can be sent in a cooler with ice or even dry ice for frozen foods like the new Gluten-Free Café meals (talk about making it easy for the camp cook!). If there are kitchen facilities, consider sending some mixes along so the kids and counselors can make cookies, brownies, and other baked goodies. Arrowhead Mills gluten-free brownies and chocolate chip cookies will be a hit with ALL the kids, gluten-free or not. And don’t forget the pasta. DeBoles has a great gluten-free lasagna noodle that doesn’t even need to be cooked first, so it’s easy and would serve the whole crowd.
• Arm your kids with knowledge. Knowledge is power. The more your child understands his own dietary needs, the better. If you’ve read any of my books, you know I feel STRONGLY about giving your kids control of their diet from Day One. Yep – even two-year-olds can “pretend” to read labels, memorize “sound bites” of what they can and can’t eat, and make decisions about which foods are okay and which ones aren’t.

Cooking at home

If you have the luxury of spending some of the summer free time at home with the kids, cherish the time with activities that bond – like cooking. Kids love to “help” in the kitchen! When they’re very young, sometimes their “help” is less than helpful, but the time together is priceless.

From a bigger-picture standpoint, cooking with the kids is a great way to subtly remind your kids that they are in control of their diet. Did I mention I feel STRONGLY about this?!? Let them decide what they want to make, and then – sometimes this is the tough part – let them help. Even little kids can stir, pour, decorate, and (yay) help clean up.

You may want to try the new Arrowhead Mills Bake with Me Gluten Free Cupcake Mixes. They come with everything you need to make gluten-free chocolate or vanilla cupcakes with the kids.

Savor the summer

Try not to worry about battling boredom, and instead cherish the time together, because before you know it, “I’m bored” will be replaced with, “Can I borrow the car?” Savor the summer months and don’t even THINK about letting the gluten-free lifestyle stand in your way!