Summer carries with it the energy of spontaneity and connection: sunny days, travel, cookouts, and family gatherings. But for those navigating food allergies, whether for yourself or your child, this open season can also bring stress, unpredictability, and emotional fatigue. The tension between wanting to enjoy life and needing to stay safe can feel especially heavy in a time that’s supposed to feel carefree. If you've ever felt like allergies were holding you (or your family) back from fully embracing summer, you're not alone.

Living a full and meaningful life with allergies doesn’t mean eliminating joy or avoiding every social situation. It means learning to live in alignment with your values. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), values are the guiding principles that give life richness and direction. You might value spontaneity, but you also value safety and responsibility. Living in a way that honors all of these values can mean making tough choices, like skipping an impromptu dinner, preparing your own food for a vacation, or teaching your child how to navigate a party while carrying safe snacks and epinephrine. These are not limitations, they’re valued actions, intentional steps that reflect who and what matters most to you. Living a values-driven life with allergies means asking "What do I care about deeply?" and “How can I honor that, even with the limits I face?”. For many parents, this also becomes “How do I model strength, flexibility, and self-advocacy for my child while still protecting their well-being?”.

Even when you’re aligned with your values, emotional discomfort often shows up. Grief over missed experiences, anxiety about cross-contact, guilt about saying no, or loneliness when you or your child feel different. These emotions aren’t signs of failure. They're signs that you care, about your health, your child’s safety, your relationships, and your place in the world. These emotions are natural responses and they don’t need to be pushed away or ignored. Rather than avoiding those feelings, we can meet them with mindfulness and self-compassion. Techniques like grounding exercises, journaling, deep breathing, or naming what you're feeling can help you stay present without getting overwhelmed. These tools won’t erase tough emotions, but they do make space for them, giving you more freedom to choose how you want to respond. If you’re a parent, practicing this emotional flexibility yourself can be a powerful gift, not only for your well-being, but as a model for how your child can relate to their own allergy-related emotions with openness and acceptance.

Choosing to live fully, even with allergies, means honoring your emotional reality and your personal values at the same time. You don’t need to wait for things to be easy or perfect to make meaningful choices. You are already living bravely: planning ahead, advocating for yourself and your child, and showing up with care in a world not built for your needs. This summer, let joy be rooted not in doing everything, but in doing what matters most to you. Every time you honor your limits and your values, you're building a life that reflects your strength, your truth, and your resilience.