I Love Peanuts, but They Could Kill My Son

By Sean Kelley

I’m a peanut junkie. I love PB&Js, peanut butter pies, peanuts in Coca Cola bottles (a Southern treat that is just what it sounds like), and peanut brittle. I’ve been seen eating peanut butter straight out of the jar—with a spoon when handy and with fingers when not. When I introduced my wife, Patti, to the 105-year-old woman who helped raise me as my nanny, she offered only one piece of advice to her: “Don’t you run out of peanut butter.”

Well, the days of the endless supply are over. My one food peccadillo can kill my son. We just learned that Graeme is deathly allergic to peanuts.

Our 18-month-old began having problems the minute he was exposed to people food. Baby food was fine, milk was fine, but certain highly processed foods would make him react. At first it was minor: A few red splotches around his neck or flushed cheeks. Read More