Leave the great indoorsnotes on the journey

Becoming a parent is, in many ways, similar to the character Neo’s experience when he stepped out of The Matrix.  You become aware of topics and arguments that have been going on for generations, but you just never noticed it before.  Epidural or not?  C-section, natural birth, or water birth?  Cry it out, or console?  And the list goes on and on.  Our latest fork in the road was the all-important do we get our daughter vaccinated, or not?

The first book we read on the topic was Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families and Health Practitioners: Guide to Immunization Risks and Protection.   A better title might have been “Vaccinate your kids and they will die a horrible death, immediately.”  It really is a frightening read in every sense of the word.  We started reading the book a day before our daughter was scheduled for her first vaccination appointment, and it freaked us out so much that we immediately pushed out the appointment by 2 weeks, and wondered how we would ever be able to sleep without nightmares.

The next morning we took a deep breath, and started reading the other side of the story.  We went through a bunch of sources, but the most balanced book we found on the topic, and the one we ended up using in our decision, is Dr. Sears’ The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child.  The book provides a balanced view of the pros and cons of each vaccination, and instead of prescribing what to do, it gives reasons for why you might want to give, or not give, each vaccination.

We eventually decided to go with Dr. Sears’ schedule that spaces out the vaccinations so that you don’t pump so much aluminum into their little bodies all at once.  So yesterday we dressed our daughter in the cutest outfit we could find, strapped her into the car seat, and went to the hospital.  Yesterday was also Black Friday in the US, and that’s very much what it felt like to us…  However, in the end, our daughter was much stronger than her parents.  I almost resorted to violence when the nurse stuck the needle in her leg, but other than that it was a fairly uneventful hospital visit.

The point I’m trying to make though, is that it really doesn’t matter what we decided to do. Before I had kids, I used to watch parents do certain things and think to myself, “I will never do that with my kids.”  Now I think differently.  Now I understand three undeniable facts about parenthood:

1. Everyone loves their kids
2. In most cases, there is no clear right way and wrong way to do things
3. We all get as informed as we can, and then we make the decision that feels most right

So whether you decide to vaccinate your kids or not, what is important is that you make an informed decision.  Beyond that, no one is allowed to judge you.