Living With Regret

Have you ever made a decision that you wish you chould change? Has it ever involved someone else? Your child(ren)?

Well, that is the boat I find myself in right now. It is interesting that in the Bible study I am part of we are focusing on contentment. One of the things the author brought out in this week's study is not dwelling on the future nor the past, but only what is in our life at the present. It was obviously an appropriate topic for me since I can't change what's already been done.

When Gavin turned a year old I declined the varicella vaccine. My mom didn't have a good feeling about it and I was concerned about the fact that it hadn't been around that long. Several years went by and at his four year check-up I was faced with the reality that he might not get exposed to it as a child since so many children are now vaccinated. So even though I didn't really want to, I got him vaccinated. I did the same with Peyton.

Now they have determined that vaccinated children need two shots in order for it to be effective. They are finding that people in their 20's who were vaccinated are now susceptible to getting the chicken pox. I had noticed on something (I can't even remember what) that this was the case and this evening when Gavin went in for a check-up the topic came up. Sure enough, he needed to get another shot. This means Peyton will have to do the same thing.

I asked the dr. what his opinion of it was as a dad. He said he waited as long as he could with his children, then thankfully they knew someone who got the chicken pox. They took their kids over and they got it. Problem solved. I had that chance once, but the child who had it had a very mild case (he had been vaccinated) and Peyton was only a baby. I wanted Gavin to get it, but didn't want to experience chicken pox with an infant so I decided to not expose either one. Now I wish I had. He recommended that I wait as long as possible for Dawson so that hopefully he will pick it up on his own. It may be more likely for this to happen in Slovakia than here.

I'm trying to not beat myself up about the whole thing, but I do feel like I didn't make the best decision when I caved in to the vaccination. So, if you haven't gotten your child vaccinated yet - GREAT! But if you have, check with your dr. to see if he/she needs another booster. Chances are that they do and possibly will again in the future.