Sample letter to parents of classmates of a child with PWS

Tammy Graesser was having problems with school party treats in her daughter Hope’s kindergarten class. She would like to thank all in the 6-12 e-mail support group for their suggestions. Following is a letter she sent to the parents of the other children:

Dear Begindergarten Parents,

We understand and embrace the idea of you wanting to share the celebration of your child’s birthday with their classmates. However, there is a child in the classroom with very special dietary restrictions. We would like very much for our child to be able to be a part of your child’s celebration as well; therefore, we are offering some suggestions for treats.

First, keep in mind that treats don’t always have to be edible. There are a lot of fun party favors that are inexpensive. However, if you want to bring cupcakes you could either buy or make very small ones, or you could use a lower calorie recipe such as using applesauce instead of oil, or use a white cake mix and one single can of diet 7Up and bake as usual — this cuts the calories in half! Also fat free Cool Whip has a lot fewer calories than frosting.

“Goodie bags” are as much fun filled with pencils and sugar free gum, as when they are full of chocolate! Kids love 10-calorie juice boxes. Fruit kabobs are fun and nutritious, and you could even add “Cool Whip Free” as a fun dip. Popcorn is very low in calories and what kid doesn’t love popcorn? (It’s also much easier for the teachers to clean up than cake crumbs and frosting!) One other treat that would be sure not to get the kids all sugared up is to cut up veggies and put them in individual baggies for each child to enjoy. Maybe some of you have some fun lo-cal ideas. We would love to hear them!

These children have a lot of years together ahead of them and we are hoping that this new lo-calorie tradition will follow them through the years. After all, with all of the talk of childhood obesity, this is a good place to start!

Thank you so much for understanding and for making it possible for every child to enjoy your child’s celebration!!

Submitted by Lee and Tammy Graesser, Gregory, South Dakota