After peering into my pram, occasionally people ask, "Will she have coeliac disease?" (This is sometimes accompanied by a slightly pitying look, as though it's the worst thing in the world. More on this later.)
According to the stats, if a parent has coeliac disease there's a ten per cent chance their child will too. But I've got two children so that's two chances in ten. If I went on to have ten children then one of them would be Coeliac (statistically). Of course, if I did have ten children I'd need a few triplets to save me from being in my fifties when the final one was born. This, and other hurdles...
I digress. Back to coeliac disease...
To be honest, it's not really something I worry about. Like many parents, I deal with things as they come. I'd love to think I could anticipate all dilemmas but the analyst in me is usually elbowed out by the pragmatist. At the moment it's how to make sure the one year old doesn't try to race off with the six week old in her pram. He tries, bless him, and I google 'reins for children'.
I'd probably be the best person to have a Coeliac child. My kitchen's gluten-free and, hey, they'd always have cake. There are far worse things people have to deal with (hence my earlier reference to pity).
But then again, they'd have to spend their whole childhood missing out on experiences. Sharing pizza with friends or getting a waffle cone at the beach should be a rite of passage, not fraught with issues of gluten-free stockists. No-one likes to be odd man out.
That said, no-one knows what the future holds. Freefrom is becoming so more common these days. Maybe soon catering for Coeliacs will be as commonplace as serving vegetarians.
Do you have a Coeliac child? Please share your story below!