One down side

I hesitant to say anything negative about CA because I don't want anyone to doubt what a wonderful organization they are. I completely support them and am immensely grateful for all that they are doing to help my family. That being said, I'm very disappointed about one thing. The food situation.

I asked and was specifically told that the camp would have safe food for Mika. I emailed again a few weeks ago when I found out that she has nut allergies, too. I reminded her that meant no high fructose corn syrup or high fructose foods, no peanuts or almonds, very minimal dairy. The reassured me that they handle food allergies all the time.

I was absolutely unprepared for the complete lack of food for her. We've had 5 suppers and 4 lunches so far. She's been able to eat 1 and a half. Yesterday, she ate two plain rolls, 7 grapes, 3 pieces of watermelon and a large cookie for lunch. That's it. That's all there was for her. Today it was 100% no again. Not a damn thing. So I went and asked Jennifer (the founder) how long the lunch lasted. She said she wasn't sure and I mentioned that I had to go find something for Mika to eat. She looked mortified and told me she was so, so very sorry. Then I felt bad for making her feel like I was bitter, so I told her that this is what we were used to and to not feel bad. She promised me that lunch would last until Mika and I were done eating. I felt that was honestly thoughtful because I expected to almost cram food into her so she didn't miss practice time.

I talked to Judy and Francis about the food options for her. We looked over the meal plans for the rest of camp and found that there is 1 meal (baked chicken) that will probably be safe. Everything else? 100% no. So much for it being food safe for Mika. So we're going out to WalMart as a group for our 1st official outing tomorrow. While we're there, I'll be picking up a week's worth of food for Mika in addition to other important stuff like hair spray and dog toys (heaven forbid this dog not have every toy in WalMart). I can keep food in the kitchen at the training camp and in the fridge in our room. The hotel will let me keep some food in their freezer, too.

It's disappointing. But it's not the end of the world. I just wish they hadn't gotten my hopes up. I'm glad I'm obsessed with being prepared because I've had granola bars and safe snacks in my backpack when we needed them.