Sick day

I have spent months going back and forth on the issue of immunizing our kids against H1N1. To date, we have followed the provincially recommended immunization schedule, but none of us have ever had a flu shot and I am generally against over-medicating and prefer most of the time to let nature run its course. That being said, every time I hear about a perfectly healthy someone who was dead 24 hours later because of H1N1... it strikes fear in my heart. Even if those cases are 1 in 8 million.

(For the record, Chad does not have a strong opinion one way or the other either and knows that I am reading everything I can find on the issue, so he's essentially left the decision on this one in my hands.)

I had all the time in the world to waver on making this decision up until the vaccine landed in our municipality a few weeks ago and became accessible. A few weeks went by and I still couldn't decide. Then, this past weekend, I finally decided to get it. It still scares me a bit that the vaccine was rushed out, but I temper that fear by thinking about how the flu vaccine itself has been around for years - this is just a different strain of it. And at the end of the day, I would feel worse if something bad happened because I'd neglected to get the vaccine that is being recommended, than if something bad happened because I'd gotten the vaccine. You follow?

This week's vax clinics in our town were on Tuesday and Wednesday, and wouldn't you know it, Mallory woke up on Monday with a rash that is still persisting today. I think it's the start of her annual wintertime eczema onslaught (sigh). Still, we decided not to go to the clinic without Mallory being 100%.

And wouldn't you know it... Wednesday night, Liam hardly had anything to eat and by the time he went to bed, he was burning up. I spent yesterday home with him as he took a sick day from school. His fever was mid-range (100.6 F) but the weird thing is that he didn't have any other symptoms. No sore throat, cough, stomach upset, body aches, lethargy... nothing. And by last night, he was fine again. So whatever it was was (a) mild and (b) quick.

So... did he have H1N1? Do I still have to get him vaccinated? It's decision-making time, again.

Here he is yesterday... you can see the flush in his right cheek from the fever. I was trying to pump him full of clementines. They are thought to be a wintertime illness cure-all in our house.We have some landscaping going on in the back yard right now, and it's been so much fun to see the progress. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to spend a day at home watching the guys in action but... it rained all day. So no progress was made. Bummer!I also thought we might make more headway on the holiday decor, but that didn't happen, either. Liam helped me do this bannister last weekend. I still need some ribbon or something to cover the zip ties holding the garland to the railing, and maybe something to hang from the newel post to finish it off. (I know garland is really supposed to go on the outside of the staircase, not inside of it, but we have a switchback on the second floor that doesn't make that possible.)Hoping to do some more indoor holiday decorating this weekend, and some outdoor stuff, too. They're calling for snow next week... that's incentive to get out and do it now!