When my girls were little — even when they were big — they never experienced allergy issues of any sort. Never. So I don't know what it's like to have a child with allergies. I don't ever really even consider allergies and such.

Well, I didn't consider allergies and such... until my bonus grandson Bud entered our world. Bud is allergic to gluten, nuts, animals, and all sorts of other stuff. So I am a bit more cognizant of the issue than pre-Bud.

Bud is not a blood relative, though, so perhaps allergies run in his family.

Bubby, on the other hand, is a blood relative, and allergies do not run in our family. So getting a text from Megan with the following photo — noting "allergy attack" as the explanation for my eldest grandson's miserable condition — floored me:

boy with allergies

So sad!

That's just the way it is for most kids in the desert, Megan explains. They all have allergies, she says, offering as evidence the picked clean shelves of allergy medication at the local stores when she sought relief for Bubby.

Now, I may not know much about dealing with kids with allergies but I do know this: That's not the way it is for kids in Colorado, where my kids grew up... without allergies. (Bud is an anomaly, I convince myself.)

Reasonable or not, Bubby's photo leads me to add "allergies" as No. 417 on my list of reasons why my grandsons and their parents must immediately vacate the desert and live near Gramma in the mountains.

For their sake, of course.

Today's question:

How rampant are allergies in your family and your location? (Bonus question: Do allergies seem more common than they used to be or was I just lucky with my daughters?)