Methane Oceans

I’m not too concerned about the swine flu right now. (I’ll post later on that.) I’m not that worried about the economy (I’ll just say that I’m not worried about losing my job because of the economy). What I do worry about is my daughter’s future. Unfortunately, there are those out there who seem to be trying to harm her. I didn’t want to make my second (real) post here on something other than astrobiology, but I felt the need to say something about this:

You see, Jenny McCarthy is getting an additional venue to spread her antivaccine nonsense. This is a woman who, without real proof, has gone on a crusade against vaccines. This angers me, because it can affect my daughter. That is what scares me. People like her make me sick because they can make my daughter sick, or worse.

My wife and I had a discussion about this. We did not talk about whether or not to immunize out daughter. We’d already looked into it and believe there is no proof of vaccines causing autism. I’ve spent many hours reading both sides (warning, junk science site) as well as reading some books and magazines. We already know that the benefits far outweigh the risks to our little girl. We agreed to stick to the schedule, barring unforeseen research in this area. What we talked about was what to tell my mother-in-law.

I’m going to insert a warning here. I’m not likely to add many links to the rest of this post. This is for two reasons: 1) it’s late and I’m getting tired & 2) I believe most of the links I’ve already posted covers what I’m about to say. Besides, the rest of this is an anecdote and I’m posting it more to show how we handled this, rather than why.

You see, she was initially wary of us following the vaccine schedule as recommended by the doctor. Her other daughter’s kids didn’t follow the standard schedule, at least according to my mother-in-law. She was following the “too much, too soon” mentality. My wife thought we should just tell her we were spacing them out where I disagreed. This isn’t because I dislike her¹ and disagreed on that basis alone. I thought about it for a little while and this is what I told my wife (paraphrased):

If we lie to my mother-in-law and tell her that we spread out my daughter’s vaccinations, we’d just be adding ammunition to the anti vaccinationists arsenal. If she talks to other people about whether or not to spread out the shots, she may tell people that her granddaughter had her shots spread out. Honestly, I don’t want my daughter helping kill other children.

So, we decided to tell her the truth. She wasn’t thrilled. She saw my daughter and I the day after her first set of vaccinations (after the Hib shot in the hospital). My daughter was running a slight fever and was being a little more fussy than normal². My mother-in-law was not happy. She then told me that she read that if your child is highly fatigued after getting her shots, then you should tell the doctor to spread out the rest of them. Her next words were what floored me. You see, she didn’t read this recently but had read it in a magazine 25-30 years ago. I held my tongue that day but I was about ready to laugh. When I was working on my BS, I rarely cited anything older than 5 years and here she was quoting me something more than 25 years old.

To make a long story short (because I’m getting tired), when my daughter’s second round of vaccinations came up, we did not hesitate. My mother-in-law still gives me some slightly dirty looks but I think that’s because she thinks that as the grandmother, she knows best because she’d done it before. Unfortunately for her, that’s not how I was raised¹.

1 – I actually have a pretty good mother-in-law. She does have a downside, though. She is used to certain things, like being relied upon. When my wife and I moved into town, she helped us a lot and despite her complaints, I think it made her feel needed. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, I was raised to be self-reliant. As a result, I do things my way and as independently as I can. So, I sometimes find her overbearing. I know she means well but it can get on my nerves.
2 – Her reaction was about what I expected. I would have been surprised if she had no reaction at all. Her behavior for the days after the shots can be difficult but I also know that in the long run, she’ll be much happier, healthier, and alive.