I will admit it: the swine flu has me completely paranoid. Mick and I argued about it this morning. He asked me what was wrong & I told him I'm nervous about the swine flu. He had a very reasonable response: why worry about something you can't control? He thinks we just need to be sensible: wash our hands, cover our mouths when we sneeze, etc. I, on the other hand, think I'm justified to panic. I have a baby. I think that, as a mum, I'm wired to be hyper-protective of my little one. Plus, I have a husband who travels a lot for business so I feel that we are more susceptible than many other people.I guess we're both right, even though we have different responses to this.
I usually scoff at the media when they hype up a danger (think Fox "news" and its classic "your laundry detergent could be silently killing you!!" segments) but this one is really getting to me.
For the time being, I am going to take Mick's advice (well, I'll try) and will control what I can. I will make sure that Mick washes his hands before interacting with Jack when he gets home from work. And I will try not to become so loony about this that Jack wonders what happened to his normally-rational mother.
If anyone else has advice for me (some moms from playgroup have already helped me, even if just by saying "I feel the same way - I'm nervous too!") please pass it along.
(And no, this isn't a picture of Jack. It's a picture that my sister-in-law, Sarah, just sent to me with the tip "Swine flu prevention: don't do this!")
1 comment:
I am with Mick, but you probably knew that already. Something like 35,000 people die a year from the regular flu. No real indication that the swine flu is any tougher than the regular.
I'm not buying the 6% mortality rate out of Mexico because...it's Mexico which has different living conditions and health care than we have going on here. Not to mention the fact that people here are ready for it which which no doubt keep things under control.
If too many people start dying here, I will dust off my copy of "The Stand", go buy a gun, a generator and lots of fuel.
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