Just Said No

I volunteer at Jack's school store every Thursday morning. It's basically a cart with cutesy school supplies (which I bet the poor teachers HATE.) The kids come running up with their cash in hand, heady with the power to buy whatever they want, and the parent volunteers help them count out their money, put their change and purchases away and keep things moving in an orderly fashion. All proceeds go to the PTA. Or the school. Whatever.

Jack loves that I do it. He gets to hang out at the cart, wave to his friends as they arrive and generally Feel Important. I like doing it because I think it's important to be involved with the school as it shows the staff that I care and it shows Jack that he is special and that I am interested in his life outside of the house.

Today, though, I contacted the mother who runs the store and told her that I won't be returning.

Why? It's a safety issue.

Only 25% of the kids in our school district signed up for the free H1N1 vaccine. Now some of the 75% may have gotten it from their family doctor or a private clinic like we did but still, that leaves a lot of unvaccinated children. A lot of unvaccinated children breathing, coughing, sneezing and speaking their potentially infected droplets on the baby hanging on the front of me. The baby who is too young to get the flu mist that the rest of the family got last month.

When I thought of how careful I am with Bonnie in these dangerous times, avoiding public places whenever possible, I felt like a total idiot for taking her to school with all these children. I mean, kids and their questionable hygiene are the big spreaders of most illnesses. Wearing her in the Bjorn while I help at school puts her face level with a bunch of germy strangers. What was I thinking???

It's a shame because I really did like helping out but I'm not going to take chances with my child. Let the parents who don't want to vaccinate take my place and risk their own children's health.