I have moved past the piggy flu and now I will rant about goodie bags. I know, you're like, seriously, she's got to have more to worry about. The earthquake in Haiti, the rapes in the Congo, the bombs in Iraq. Yes, there are worse problems than goodie bags, but I must deal with the here and now, so here we go.
I don't mean to insult any of my friends who like to give out goodie bags at their children's parties. If I lose any friends over this blog, then so be it. The thing is, my son goes to a birthday party, then comes back with a plastic bag filled with plastic objects made in China that will then go into the landfill. And in our house, I can tell you that they get to the landfill pretty darn quickly, as I toss them into the garbage the second Noah looks the other way. He never misses the stuff.
Two weeks ago was Noah's 6th birthday. We had the obligatory large party, where all the children brought lovely gifts. At the end of the party, we chose to give each child a book rather than the aformentioned goodie bag. I didn't know all the children personally, so many of the kids got Danny and the Dinosaur or Amelia Bedelia. However, I do know some of these kids well and bought the Statue of Libery book for the kid obsessed with the Lady, a baseball book for the kids obsessed with baseball, and a more advanced reading book for the slightly older child who attended the party. I don't know why I was shocked at the disappointment some of the kids had when I handed them the wrapped books. "This is it?" I got that from 2 kids. They were truly shocked and bummed out.
Noah has been to 2 parties this year where the invitations said, "no gifts". In lieu of gifts, the parents were collecting for a charity in the child's name. This is such a terrific idea and I wish more of us would do this. We did this last year, and Noah didn't miss out on anything. We got him plenty of wonderful gifts, and he collected over $400 for Heifer International. I wish more people would do this, and while they're at it, skip the goodie bags all together. We gave him the option of doing that again this year, but he opted for gifts rather than a donation. Okay, he's 6, and I understand his choice. Next year I don't know that I will give him the choice.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
We're 1/2 way there
My kids got dose numero uno of the piggy vaccine today. I am proud to say that I didn’t wait in any lines, drive greater than 1 mile, or bribe anyone. Our pediatrician’s office sent out an email yesterday that they had received a limited quantity of vaccine and they would give out the vaccine starting at 7:30 AM this morning (a Saturday), first come first serve. They asked that if you arrived early to please line up in an orderly fashion and that police would be there to assist. For those of you who are reading this and don’t know me, I do not live in Africa or Central America, no war zone here. It’s just Central NJ!
I slept in until 8 AM, had breakfast, and at 8:45 got in my MINIVAN and drove over to check out the chaos. Well, there was no chaos. I went home and picked up my kids. We all marched in to the office in our PJ’s with bed head, and the kids snorted the vaccine. In and out in under 4 minutes. Seriously! Totally painless for all involved. Now I have to hope that the pig does not get my kids before the vaccine kicks in. And dose #2? Well I’m not going to hold my breath, but at least they will now have some immunity. I wont be any less diligent in my hand washing efforts, but maybe I’ll worry a little less.
I slept in until 8 AM, had breakfast, and at 8:45 got in my MINIVAN and drove over to check out the chaos. Well, there was no chaos. I went home and picked up my kids. We all marched in to the office in our PJ’s with bed head, and the kids snorted the vaccine. In and out in under 4 minutes. Seriously! Totally painless for all involved. Now I have to hope that the pig does not get my kids before the vaccine kicks in. And dose #2? Well I’m not going to hold my breath, but at least they will now have some immunity. I wont be any less diligent in my hand washing efforts, but maybe I’ll worry a little less.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Locker Room Chatter
My dear sister emailed me recently that she read that exercising doesn't make you lose weight. Well that's okay. I'm going to keep going to the gym anyway. I'm addicted to my spin classes, and the conversation I hear in the locker room is priceless. Who is tanning when and where, whose 4 year old is reading chapter books, and most recently, whether to get the swine flu vaccine, and if so, where to get it. Now I do need to mention that most of these conversations take place in the nude. Why is it that many women like to stand in front of the mirrors at the gym, blow drying their hair, in the nude? Ah, but I digress...
The conversations I heard today just make me wonder. Where are these women getting their information, and who is right, what are the answers? There was an article in the NY Times today by pediatrician Perri Klass about the H1N1 vaccine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10klas.html?_r=1&ref=science
I usually enjoy Dr. Klass' articles. However, I found this one to be mostly uninformative. She quotes another pediatrian telling the parents of his patients that they should not be afraid of the vaccine, as kids put other things up their noses, why is the vaccine any different. Come on, are you serious? I have read a good deal about the H1N1 vaccine and happen not to be afraid of it. As I mentioned in the first entry of my blog, if it were widely available, I would get it. I know the medical system is extremely overwhelmed with sick patients, confused and angry parents, questions, etc. However, I hope that they remember that the confused and angry parents out there are just doing what we're supposed to do, and that's worry about our children. When we're told we should definitely get our kids vaccinated, and then there is no vaccine, it's frustrating! So the journey continues. Good health to us all.
The conversations I heard today just make me wonder. Where are these women getting their information, and who is right, what are the answers? There was an article in the NY Times today by pediatrician Perri Klass about the H1N1 vaccine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10klas.html?_r=1&ref=science
I usually enjoy Dr. Klass' articles. However, I found this one to be mostly uninformative. She quotes another pediatrian telling the parents of his patients that they should not be afraid of the vaccine, as kids put other things up their noses, why is the vaccine any different. Come on, are you serious? I have read a good deal about the H1N1 vaccine and happen not to be afraid of it. As I mentioned in the first entry of my blog, if it were widely available, I would get it. I know the medical system is extremely overwhelmed with sick patients, confused and angry parents, questions, etc. However, I hope that they remember that the confused and angry parents out there are just doing what we're supposed to do, and that's worry about our children. When we're told we should definitely get our kids vaccinated, and then there is no vaccine, it's frustrating! So the journey continues. Good health to us all.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
My Beef With the Swine
I was recently taken back to the mid ‘80’s. My best friend Elena and I were sitting in her room with her rotary phone. We were desperate to get Billy Joel tickets. I remember clearly how that afternoon went. Dial, busy, dial, busy, dial, busy… This continued for nearly 2 hours. The final outcome was a recording which said all the tickets were gone. We were very disappointed, and had wasted 2 teenage hours of our lives.
How does this relate to the swine flu you ask? Well, just 2 days ago, I received an email from my children’s pediatrician’s office saying they had received a small amount of the H1N1 vaccine. They were taking appointments over the phone for 2 days only, while supplies last. So, I got on my cell phone and the race began. From 3:40 to 5 PM I hit redial. During that time I made a trip to Target with my kids, RWD (redialing while driving, must be illegal somewhere). No luck getting through. On the way home from Target, at approximately 4:15 I stopped by the pediatrician’s office. I thought perhaps I could get an appointment directly from the receptionist. Well I clearly wasn’t the only one who thought this. She politely told me I would have to do it by phone, keep trying she said. So, I kept it up. At 5 PM I gave up, since their office closes at that time. At around 5:30 I received another email from the pediatrician’s office saying all the appointments were taken, and we should stop calling.
I’m not sure that I felt worse than after missing out on the Billy Joel tickets, but I certainly felt more frustrated. Now we’re talking about the health of my children. I was angry and unsettled. Who got through? Were their kids more important than mine? A third email arrived shortly after from the ped’s practice saying they were sorry about the whole situation, but not to be nasty to their staff. I completely understand that it’s not the doctors’, nurses’, receptionists’ faults. The state of NJ only has a certain amount of vaccine and each practice gets what they get. So, I do not in any way blame the practice. I thoroughly respect all of the doctors and nurses at this practice and will continue to do so through out this public health disaster.
Now on to part 2 of this story. A note came home in my son’s school folder last week, that there would be an H1N1 vaccine clinic at one of the local schools on 11/4/09, from 4-7 PM, for kids in grades k-3. They would apparently only have the mist, no injection. So I picked my son up at the school bus at 3:40 and we headed over. When we arrived at the school at 3:50, there were barricades up and police presence, to keep the crazed parents in line. The line was around the school. There was no parking.
I decided at that time, that it was not worth it. Do I want my children to be vaccinated? Yes. However, I am no longer going to hit redial for 2 hours, and I’m not going to wait in line for 2 hours either. I am extremely blessed that I have 2 healthy young children. If the swine gets them, then we’ll just hope it’s not too bad and that they recover quickly and don’t suffer too much.
What all of this has made me realize is that we are a nation of, “I want it, and I want it now”. We’re used to getting everything that we want and need. Well, welcome to the way most of the rest of the world lives. Don’t you think the people in Africa want a malaria vaccine and clean water and food for their children? Why are we Americans so much more entitled that the rest of the world? Don’t get me wrong. I love all that I have and love this country (most of the time). However, I now have a small idea of what it’s like not to be able to get what you want all the time. The Rolling Stones said it best, “You can’t always get what you want”.
How does this relate to the swine flu you ask? Well, just 2 days ago, I received an email from my children’s pediatrician’s office saying they had received a small amount of the H1N1 vaccine. They were taking appointments over the phone for 2 days only, while supplies last. So, I got on my cell phone and the race began. From 3:40 to 5 PM I hit redial. During that time I made a trip to Target with my kids, RWD (redialing while driving, must be illegal somewhere). No luck getting through. On the way home from Target, at approximately 4:15 I stopped by the pediatrician’s office. I thought perhaps I could get an appointment directly from the receptionist. Well I clearly wasn’t the only one who thought this. She politely told me I would have to do it by phone, keep trying she said. So, I kept it up. At 5 PM I gave up, since their office closes at that time. At around 5:30 I received another email from the pediatrician’s office saying all the appointments were taken, and we should stop calling.
I’m not sure that I felt worse than after missing out on the Billy Joel tickets, but I certainly felt more frustrated. Now we’re talking about the health of my children. I was angry and unsettled. Who got through? Were their kids more important than mine? A third email arrived shortly after from the ped’s practice saying they were sorry about the whole situation, but not to be nasty to their staff. I completely understand that it’s not the doctors’, nurses’, receptionists’ faults. The state of NJ only has a certain amount of vaccine and each practice gets what they get. So, I do not in any way blame the practice. I thoroughly respect all of the doctors and nurses at this practice and will continue to do so through out this public health disaster.
Now on to part 2 of this story. A note came home in my son’s school folder last week, that there would be an H1N1 vaccine clinic at one of the local schools on 11/4/09, from 4-7 PM, for kids in grades k-3. They would apparently only have the mist, no injection. So I picked my son up at the school bus at 3:40 and we headed over. When we arrived at the school at 3:50, there were barricades up and police presence, to keep the crazed parents in line. The line was around the school. There was no parking.
I decided at that time, that it was not worth it. Do I want my children to be vaccinated? Yes. However, I am no longer going to hit redial for 2 hours, and I’m not going to wait in line for 2 hours either. I am extremely blessed that I have 2 healthy young children. If the swine gets them, then we’ll just hope it’s not too bad and that they recover quickly and don’t suffer too much.
What all of this has made me realize is that we are a nation of, “I want it, and I want it now”. We’re used to getting everything that we want and need. Well, welcome to the way most of the rest of the world lives. Don’t you think the people in Africa want a malaria vaccine and clean water and food for their children? Why are we Americans so much more entitled that the rest of the world? Don’t get me wrong. I love all that I have and love this country (most of the time). However, I now have a small idea of what it’s like not to be able to get what you want all the time. The Rolling Stones said it best, “You can’t always get what you want”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)