Last week I kept my daughter home from preschool over the swine flu. I felt a little crazy about doing it on Monday but I didn't think I had enough info to feel good about sending her. I felt even crazier when I kept her home again on Wednesday (she only attends three days a week) but that decision was a knee-jerk one made in the minutes after hearing that a toddler in Texas died of the disease (and before hearing the specifics of that situation - that the child was being treated in Texas but had come from Mexico and had underlying health issues).
By Friday even more school districts in our area were closing over swine flu and many questions were still unanswered about it, yet I sent my daughter to school. What made me change my mind? I finally started thinking from a practical perspective instead of an emotional one. Sure, the swine flu was making its rounds, albeit lightly, about 15 minutes from where we live. But what were the chances (at that stage) of my daughter actually catching it? They couldn't be very good. And after more than a week home with me and her little brother during which she was getting bored and I was going crazy she was much more likely to be harmed by me than by the swine flu (I kid!). She went to school, had a great time, was fine of course and I haven't looked back since.
Parenting, for me, is a slippery slope. And sometimes the line between being protective and being crazy is awfully fine...
[photo credit: SXC]
Now they are saying that it isn't any more dangerous than regular flu. Serious for the young, old and those with compromised immune system, but not normally life-threatening. It's good to be concerned, but also important to understand the real risks once they are revealed.
Posted by: MamaChristy | May 05, 2009 at 10:16 AM