Get the Word Out

Customizable Buttons at www.zazzle.com

When our three year old started preschool last year I was very concerned about snack time. She has a number of food allergies...some severe enough to cause a possible anaphylactic reaction. I knew I could discuss her dietary needs with her teacher but I worried about assistants, substitutes and other children giving her things that could be potentially harmful.  I started to search for ways to let everyone know about her allergies without asking her to wear a shirt that basically said, "please don't feed the Zoe". 

I found rubber bracelets but didn't think she would keep them on...I also didn't think people would check a bracelet since so many little girls often tend to wear random jewelry. I found medic alert style necklaces and charms but these weren't specific enough and didn't detail each allergen. I then remembered www.zazzle.com. Years before I ordered a few custom items from them (tshirts, stationery, stickers) for a variety of functions so I knew they must have something. After a little searching I found customizable buttons and thought they were perfect...I could pin it on her, it detailed her allergens, it would catch everyone's attention and the best part was that they were so cheap!

So $6 later I had ordered two buttons...one for her shirt and one for her backpack. I felt so much more comfortable sending her off to school with her buttons in place. I then started to think about how other people could use these buttons to pass any message along to their children's teachers, daycare workers, caregivers at the gym, etc. They could be used for consistent events like if your child needs to stay for after care every Tuesday then on Tuesdays they could wear a button reminding their teacher of that. Or if your child goes home with another family on Fridays then they could wear a button to remind their teacher. Or if you just wanted to put your name and phone number on your child when they go on field trips then this could work, too. The possibilities are endless!