My wonderful MIL

For the summer we decided to sent my 14 year old daughter to visit grandma for 5 weeks. Figured she is old enough, she is aware of her medical needs and knows how to look out for what she can and can not eat due to her food allergies.

My daughter is specifically allergic to milk protein. This really is an allergy and not an intolerance. So I was very surprised when my daughter mentioned that 'grandma said - that it is OK to drink cow's milk and that she could train her body to tolerate milk'

My first reaction immediately was WTF? How could my mother in law think it was Ok to tell my daughter that? First she knows that I'm vegan and that I try to have my kids eat a vegan diet as much as possible. Second this is a specific allergy - medical condition that we have had to deal with for years.

The good part about this is that my daughter and I had a fairly lengthy conversation on the subject. Beyond the food allergy we talked about why it was not a good idea to drink cows milk even if her body could tolerate it. We talked about how it really is meant for calves, how the cows are kept pregnant & the suffering they go through. Which she understood, but was still not clear about why it was not good for you. Talked about how the milking is done and the blood and pus that end up in the milk itself. Although the milk is pasteurized that process does not kill all bacteria and viruses, thus there is a need to give the cows antibiotics.

In the end I was happy that she understood and really does not want to even bother to try and "train her body to tolerate cow's milk". Win for me, even with the meddling mother in law.