Talk About Flu Season!
Well the news is full of all these scare tactics to stir up panic over this new H1N1 flu, which frankly is unfair to the common man here since most base their lives completely around the news! But seriously, the news is full of "beware" reports. So are my kid's schools! I bring ALL this up because of the past couple of weeks in my home, all credit due to these hype broadcasts.
Three weeks ago my oldest son (13)came home early from school with a high fever, body ache, headache and a sore throat. Well, my reaction? The flu has arrived! For me and the 13yr old this was no big deal. Walk through as we like to say. This wasn't so easy for my 9 year old dauther who is gullible beyond any you may have seen.
As the next kids starts getting sick my daughter goes into a panick! She starts crying about the H1N1 flu and that her school said it is very dangerous and that we needed the vaccine so we could be safe! I was livid, but it didn't stop there...
She started washing her hands every couple of minutes, wearing a face mask and carying hand sanitizer. When I asked her why she said she asked her teacher how she can keep safe and not die from the new flu...her teacher, trying to be helpful I'm sure, share the was to prevent spread of the virus.
As the 3rd child became ill my 9 year old refused any physical contact what so ever, avoided the rooms we were in and screamed with fear if we tried to come near her. I was so angry with the media hype and that of the schools!
I mean, is it fair to make a 9 year old that afraid of something? Bad father or not I was actually relieved when she herself woke with the flu. Yes she was frantic but within a few hours the virus had her too weak to fight or cry much. She simply slept, sipped her juice, cried when she "remembered" how dangerous the new flu was and smiled every time I said, "it's not so bad is it?"
When the flu was done with our household I reassured my daughter that we have nothing to fear because the new flu would make her feel as yucky as the old flu. She smiled and said, "I was pretty silly huh?" Being the great dad I am I hugged her and said she wasn't silly at all...but deep down I was still angry with the way our media is overracted to this whole thing.
Has anyone else experienced an interesting flu season due to all the media hype and pressure to vaccinate?
Syndicate
AddThis
We've had some similar crazy reactions here. I agree that the media really should tone down the hype a bit. Until an illness proves to be dangerous they shouldn't make it out to be. I think one thing that bothers me the most about the whole situation is the CDC stated it was of no threat however the media and other officials still insist on the urgency of the vaccine??? Makes no sense to me.
My 8 year old also wore a mask every where for a while but after we got the flu here she wasn't scared anymore. Funny how that works huh?
Scott glad to hear your little one is no longer fearful. JaMae glad to hear you now understand the real seriousness of the new flu. Hope all is well with both of you!
There are so few of us here in my small town that we didn't get much media exposure at all. Only myself and maybe one or two other people have cable and everyone else only listens to the radio. The people here in Wallas think that the government is crazy and don't believe much that they say and were not worried at all.
That was just them, I was pretty scared at first. If this thing was so dangerous and could kill adults, then imagine how bad it would be for my baby. I tried to wash my hands every time I went into town, because I didn't have to worry about getting from my neighbors. I wasn't scared about myself getting sick with the flu, it was just I didn't want my little lady to get H1N1.
Of course I had never even thought about the regular flu. No one makes a big deal of it, so I didn't even realize it was just as bad (or worse in some cases) than the H1N1 virus. Of course my friends explained it to me after I had three days of thoroughly freaking out and trying everything to keep my baby safe. Now I think they should calm down as even my friends baby got sick and he is just fine now.