When 18-month-old Brennan Gerardot showed up at day care recently asking to paint her paper pumpkin teal instead of orange, mom Meredith Gerardot wasn’t perplexed, she was proud.
The new addition will be one of several teal pumpkins decorating the family’s Oswego household this Halloween, and Gerardot hopes other residents will jump on the teal pumpkin trend.
The pumpkins are part of the Teal Pumpkin Project, which aims to bring awareness to allergy issues by encouraging homes to provide non-food treats to little goblins and ghouls this Halloween. The national campaign was kicked-off by the group Food Allergy Research and Education and asks that families paint a pumpkin teal to indicate their participation.
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Gerardot said the movement is inspiring.
Brennan suffers from a host of allergies, including egg, dairy, wheat, bananas, avocados and oranges. As a result, his trick-or-treat bag will be looking pretty bare.
“This year it won’t matter so much. He’s still young. But, next year it will be a bigger deal,” she said. “How sad would it be for the little guy to go trick-or-treating and come home with nothing he can actually have?”
So, Gerardot and other local moms are banding together to make Halloween a holiday all kids can enjoy.
Gerardot will be making a trip to the dollar store to get glow sticks, bubbles and crayons to give away in addition to candy.
Geneva mother Stacey Lueck will also make a trip for temporary tattoos an other non-food treats, she said.
Although her boys, ages 2 and 4, don’t suffer from allergies themselves, Lueck said she knows plenty of kids who do.
“I’m sure it’s hard enough to be a kid and not be able to eat what all of your friends are eating,” Lueck said. “I couldn’t imagine having to sit out on a holiday. (The teal pumpkin) is a simple way to include everyone and keep everyone safe.”
According to the Teal Pumpkin Project campaign, more than 100,000 homes have pledged to offer non-food treats this Halloween. There is also a map on the project’s website, www.foodallergy.org, which maps out participating homes.
Lueck said her goal is to get her pumpkin out early enough so that parents of children with allergies can plan a visit.
“While I’m not sure the movement is super well-known, I do think that parents who have kids with allergies will see and recognize a teal pumpkin,” she said.
The holiday could also cause problems for Aurora mother Kim Trujillo, whose 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy last year.
Trujillo is still learning the ropes of what can and can’t trigger her daughter’s seizures, so Halloween can be a scary time, she said. Despite that, this mom’s making sure her little one gets the most out of the evening.
“Halloween is fun. I think taking away the strobe lights is taking away from the fun of Halloween,” she said. “It’s scary to have a child with medical problems, but we will avoid those houses (with lights).”
Oswego mother Heather Szymczak already knows how her 12-year-old will react to the Halloween fanfare. Things as common as police car, tow truck and construction vehicle lights can set her off.
“I can say that as a parent of a child with seizures, the strobe lights bother my daughter and we try to avoid those homes,” Szymczak said. “Unfortunately, this year a neighbor has decided to light up his display already at night.”
For Szymczak, it marks a month of possible seizure-ridden agony.
Szymczak wishes that he and other homeowners might take her daughter and others like her into consideration when decorating this month.
“Each child has a different trigger,” she said.
Gerardot said by doing just a little bit, residents can make Halloween happier for all. Turn off the strobe lights, she said. Spend a few extra dollars on non-food treats.
“You’re not buying every single kid a toy,” she said. “The majority of kids don’t have a whole host of allergies. I’m going to have both options, and I’m hoping by reading this more families will participate.”
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