Canada Moms Blog

To Vaccinate, Or Not To Vaccinate

My husband and I don't have a problem with vaccinations in general. We took all three of our kids to get their "shots" (FOUR needles each time, here in B.C.) without any qualms. The crying and occasional fussiness was a pain (pun intended) at times, but we felt that it was a better alternative to them catching serious illnesses that could cost them their lives.

When it comes to the flu shot, however, we have never had our children vaccinated. Nor have we had ourselves vaccinated. We just haven't had any reason to, really. We know far too many people who have gotten the flu vaccine, only to end up catching a strain of the flu that apparently wasn't part of the vaccine. We also can't see the need to inject ourselves our children with the flu if we might not even catch it. Most years, we haven't gotten anything worse than a bad cold.

I am not saying that this choice is for everybody. There are people with weakened immune systems or people that work in environments that they are required to get the flu vaccine. Or, they just feel they need to get it. I am not crusading against the flu vaccine; it is just the decision that we have made for our family at this time.

This year, the topic has come up in our house because of the H1N1 virus (or "Swine flu"). We know a few people who have had it and they can attest to how horrible it really is. One elderly person in our community died from it last week.

The Vancouver Sun has an article that outlines when the vaccines for the regular flu and the H1N1 virus will be available. Health officials have found that people who receive the regular flu vaccine first are more susceptible to the H1N1 virus. So, you can get the H1N1 in November and the regular flu shot in 2010.

My husband talked to our family doctor (who is also a family friend) about it all. He stated that they expect that 30% of the population will come down with the H1N1 virus. Which, well, are pretty high odds. He also told us that the instant anyone has flu symptoms, they will be given Tamaflu to fight the infection.

We're pretty sure that we'll still opt out of the vaccine. Probably. We'll see what actually happens come November.

Original post to Canada Moms Blog.

The September Rush

What is it with the first few weeks of September? You go from the lazy, hazy days of summer and are then smacked upside the head with so many obligations that you don't even know where to begin.

There is the first day of school (and preschool, in our house). There is that plethora of other obligations that all decide they must start in the first two weeks of September. PAC meetings, dance classes and so forth. If you are a member of a church (as we are) there are even more meetings. Small group, Boys' club, random conferences.

ALL IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF SEPTEMBER.

Sorry for shouting, but it's getting to be a little bit ridiculous. People want you to be connected, involved, engaged. Which means that you need to spend every single evening at this event or that function or this one particular meeting.

We've been feeling the heat a little, as we do every year.

To help keep the roar as dull as it can be, we've been practicing saying, "No." Small group can wait until October. Swimming lessons need not begin until October either. Or possibly, January.

There are five human beings in our house who need to live as peacefully as possible while living five (joint, and) separate lives. Life isn't a race; we don't need to start everything at the same time, only to see some of the things that we truly love trip and fall and die on the side of the road.

For now we will do what absolutely needs to be done in September. The other things will be added in slowly as the time allows. Which may actually turn out to be never.

You know what? I'm totally OK with that.

Original post to Canada Moms Blog.

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

I have three small children, the oldest of whom will be seven in December. All of the kids have seen photos of me while pregnant with them and know that at one point they were "in Mommy's tummy." When they've asked how they actually got into my "tummy", my husband and I have told them that God created them special, just for us. That story has always worked.

Until last week.

My eldest child, a son, sat down next to me and mentioned that at one point he had been in my "tummy." He asked how he got there and I said that God had created him and he then said, "Yeah, but HOW EXACTLY? I said to him, "Can this wait until you're 16?" Him, "No. Tell me now. I need to know."

I managed to stammer and stall and distract him with something shiny.

I put the call out to friends of mine and had a wide array of responses.

"I've told my kids that daddies put a special seed into mommies special egg and then it grows into a baby in mommy's tummy...so far they haven't asked how the seed gets there!"

"Right now you could tell him that a baby is made when a mom and dad love each other. If he asks for more specifics, then you can answer those."

"I always go with the Special Hug..."

Do Kids Need An Allowance?

Last week, my eldest son decided that he needed to earn money in order to buy a lizard (long story) so he opened a "toy store." He set up shop in our backyard with many of his favorite toys and even labeled some of them with price tags pilfered from recent purchases we had made.

We live out in the sticks which means that there were absolutely no customers to be seen. He was a little disappointed about his lack of business but he knows full well how few people come by (unless invited over). I told him that one I returned from my trip to Chicago we would see about maybe instituting an allowance.

I wrote a post on my personal site asking for feedback on the whole allowance topic. As young children, my husband and I never received an allowance. All of our needs were met and our parents were good at saying yes when they needs to...and saying no when they needed to. When I was a teenager, my Mom let me have the $50 per month child support payment that my Dad had to pay for me (He got off easy, I know).

How To Survive A Road Trip With Small Children

Do you remember how in my last post I was rambling on about how we planned on only partaking in "staycations" while my kids are young? Reality came knocking.

While we are still adamant that we will not be boarding an airplane (or going to Disneyland) for at least another two years, we do partake in the occasional road trip. My husband's family (and a lot of mine) live in the suburbs of Vancouver. We're in the Okanagan, which is a mere three to four hour drive, depending on how close we want to get to the belly of the beast (Downtown).

We usually head down at Christmas, as well as a few other times during the year. We stop in Merritt (aka the armpit of BC) to stretch our legs, make a pee stop and get some snacks, and then finish the rest of our drive.

Last week there was a bit of an anomaly in our lives. My StepMom came to visit and then took all three of our kids back to the Sunshine Coast with her. This has never happened to us before. My husband and I were left floundering, feeling all out of sorts in a big house with no kids. We made the best of it, however. Dinner out every night! We'd have hung out sans clothing but my brother lives with us, so...

The Real Reason For A Staycation

The term "Staycation" is something you hear on the Internet/In magazine articles/on the TV. What with the economy and the lack of extra funds for many people, everyone is encouraged to stick close to home and go on a Staycation. This means that you forgo a trip to a distant destination in favor of taking in local events.

I get this. It is a good idea, no doubt.

For us, the Staycation stems more from an emotional inability that from a financial inability.

The thought of dragging three kids six and under to some distant destination with no sense of routine and THE POSSIBILITY OF NO GOLDFISH and possibly NO PEANUT BUTTER AND HONEY SANDWICHES sounds like crazy talk to me. My kids are young, yes, but they also like routine. Part of it is inherent and part of it is inflicted upon them (by me). Regardless of the source, my kids do not fare well when out of their natural element.

We All Need Water

We live in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. We are a vacation destination for much of our province, as well as all of those crazy Albertan tourists who have NO IDEA how to navigate roads that do not run in a straight line. (No offense to my Albertan friends. It's those other Albertans that have issues.)

Despite all of the moaning and groaning that I do about winter, it turns out that I may have even bigger issues to stress about. While we do get snow (and I do complain bitterly about it) our snow pack is at an all-time low. Add to this fact that we are at the northern tip of a desert that runs straight through to California and it is an understatement to say that we are in very dry conditions. The fire risk around here has been set to EXTREMELY HIGH.

When Do You Intervene?

I have three children, the oldest of which is six years old. He is nearing the end of Grade One (or First Grade, for our American friends) and has generally had a positive experience.

Graham was born on December 29th and I have had many people suggest that I may want to hold him back a year because he is a December baby, and even worse, he is a BOY. The first such conversation occurred when I was PREGNANT. Yes, really.

Being the defensive person that I am I always thanked those who gave their (unsolicited) advice but told them that we would assess his school-readiness at the end of his pre-school experience. Graham is a smart kid, and even more social than his overly-social mother. He was more than ready to start Kindergarten when he did.

When is it ever a good time to get a pet?

My husband and I have three small(ish) children. Graham is six, Nathan is four and Emily is two. My husband and I are both self-employed and work both in and out of the house. We trade off parenting duties; if I have work to do he watches the kids, and vice versa.

In addition to three kids we have a cat, chickens and a Beta fish that I've managed to keep alive by some strange fluke. Our house is full (also, LOUD) and our lives are busy with all that we do.

For many (MANY) months my husband kept telling me that we should get a puppy. The kids love dogs and get beyond excited when they see one at the park or the lake. I, being the voice of reason in our house, said ABSOLUTELY NOT. Puppies are like newborns and I have been there, done that. I love babies and all but I am so done with the newborn stage. I told him that I might consider us getting a dog if we could adopt an older one.

Get Fit To Get Healthy

Once upon a time I read a magazine article that was discussing incorporating fitness into your family dynamic. I would quote the article, but I read it before I even had kids, which is more that six years ago. I (obviously) don't even remember what magazine it was, never mind what year I read it. Since having kids my memory has gone the way of the Dodo bird.

The one quote that I gleaned from that article was something along these lines, as quoted from a study done:

If a child is not engaged in physical activity by the age of ten, the odds of them being physically active in their twenties is less than ten percent.

This really hit home with me.

Growing up, my family was not what you would call active. Unless you call playing darts at the Royal Canadian Legion "active." (My Mom won Provincials all the time. I, however, am not one you want to be standing close to, should I be throwing darts.)