‘Should I keep my allergic son (5) away from my family and their puppy?’

Kyona (36), mother of Ayden (5): “One thing I made up my mind when I got pregnant with Ayden: I would never become an overprotective mother. I was raised extremely protected. My parents preferred to lock me in a cage, so that nothing could ever happen to me. My child had to taste freedom and learn to live life, I decided. So I bit myself as he performed life-threatening climbs at the age of two and didn’t flinch when his chin was stitched together after a fall. Big kiss on it, tough boy, go play again.

Asthma

It has been known for a year that Ayden has asthma. Not heavy, he reacts mainly to animals. Cats lead to snot and stuffiness, and after a sporadic afternoon with the neighbor boys with a dog, he is always on his puffer. An antihistamine pill works wonders. It does not make him free of complaints, but he no longer suffocates when he comes into contact with pets. He does get hung up on those drugs. So it’s a careful consideration when I give them.

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Pets

Now my brother is getting a labrador puppy soon. Our family is incredibly close, we meet almost every day. So I’m not very happy with his action; everyone knows that Ayden is allergic to dogs. At the same time, of course, I cannot require my brother and his wife to organize their lives around my child; they have their own family with children. It complicates our intensive contact. If they come to us, they can leave the dog at home when it is old enough. But visits to my brother become very difficult this way. Should I keep my son away from his uncle and aunt’s house, which will change the family contact considerably, or should I structurally put him on anti-allergy medication?”

More episodes of the dilemma? Every Tuesday there is a new story on KekMama.nl. Read the previous dilemmas here.