Putting the “me” in measles

BY Lillian J. Reed | 2/28/2019 05:26 PM PST

Becoming a mother changes you.  Suddenly, you’re not the most important person in your world anymore.  That is until your pediatrician asks you to have your child vaccinated.  Then it’s not about protecting them and all the other innocent children they come in contact with.  It’s about you.

 Some people say it’s not right that I unilaterally decided to make my child susceptible to entirely preventable diseases.  But a two year old can’t go like 20 pages deep on the Internet to find scary stuff about how vaccines are radioactive mind control chemicals, so how are they supposed to decide?

 Yes, it’s my job as a mom to protect my children, but this is my decision, not theirs.  It’s like they say on the airplane “Put your oxygen mask on before helping your child.”  In this case, the oxygen mask is pseudo-scientific anonymous Internet comment threads and I need to inhale as much of that chatter as I can before I worry about my kids.

 And I do worry about them. I worry about whether the thread count of their crib sheets is high enough.  I worry about whether or not their sippy cups are causing carpal tunnel. I worry if their toys are educational enough.  I worry about what really matters, you know?  I just don’t worry about the potential side effects of measles like blindness, encephalitis and even death.  

 Sure I’m taking a chance, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.  For my kids.