Things that go bump

I don't consider myself a "bad" mom. I am alright. NOTHING makes me feel like the worst mom ever then when I am standing in line for preschool pick-up. You can't help but hear all the people talking about the "flu" and "shots" and "antibaterial" and "masks" and "hazmat suits" and all they are doing to prevent the Black Plague from entering their homes.
I have not put a second thought into not giving my kids the flu shot or the swine flu shot, what makes me question my mothering ability for a second is the fact that I am not scared of the flu. We don't do shots and I don't have anti-bacterial soap in my house. I am not scared of sickness.
I feel like, as a society, we are a giant cesspool of overly protective germaphobes. I know my kids are going to be exposed to germs and bacterias. I know my kids best defense is to have a strong immune system, which means they have to subject their bodies to those bacterias- the good, the bad and the ugly. I can't put them in a bubble. There are other ways to protect them.
My kids eat healthy, they wash their hands and they cover their mouths when they cough.
My kids get sick, but here is the thing they don't get as sick as the other kids or as often. In saying this I know I am jinxing myself. Right now they have that fall runny nose, I know I am only a hop, skip and a frickin' fall to the Dr. office but I'll deal.
When my kids do get sick it is not during flu season, it is after. I get through the season with a sniffle here and a cough here. That is it. When the kids are sick I call the Doctor and we get checked out.
Here is another secret, if you don't call your Doctor every time your kids farts backwards you will be taken seriously when your kid is really sick. My doctor respects the fact that I don't call him every other day. When my kids are sick I get to speak right to his nurse and she gets me in THAT day. When I call he knows my kids are sick, that they really need medicine. The fact that I don't go seeking out amoxicillin like a drug crazy whore my doctor takes me serious when my kids really need the antibiotics. It is called having a good working relationship with my kids doctor. Try it. It works.
I think when you are scared of something you are only setting yourself up. I like to think I am pro-active when this time of year comes around. I buy stock in oranges. I get out the vitamins. I make sure extra handwashing goes on. I prepare myself for the worst of it, and hold on tight. It has worked so far. Being scared is the biggest weakness, it is the chink in our mommy armor. My wish is that my kid and no kid gets sick this winter, but that is a false hope, I know.
We can only Keep Calm and Carry On.
************
Read what I would love to say to those moms in the preschool line here in the comment forum.