It's no secret: I'm a protective parent. I worry and I stress. I am a fan of five point harnesses, safety helmets, knee pads, and holding the handrail. It's just who I am. So when H1N1 started inching in on my territory, I closed shop. It took everything I had to send Grace to kindergarten, but since Andy is in preschool, I decided to keep him home until we could secure the vaccine. He also had a terrible cold...and 3 year old boys contain their, ahem, snot about as well as a colander filled with water. In short, my smiling boy looked like a glazed donut. With Andy home from school, I had a lot of time to plot and plan a way for our family to get H1N1 vaccines. We were one of the first people in line at the Health Department last Saturday (at 5:30 a.m. in the pouring rain no less). I was on cloud nine. And then the lady at the check out told me "now ma'am, these shots take 8 days to work." I nearly cried on her (ample) shoulder. Scott explained how vaccine instigated immunity works and recommended that we keep both kids out on Monday. A day off for Grace! She was thrilled and I decided to turn it into an adventure. The leaves are at peak color and we live so close the famed Skyline Drive...and kids love to sit in the car for a 60 mile ride to look at fall foliage, right?! It was fun for the first 8 miles and 2 lookouts. And then not so much. And then they fell asleep. And then it was really fun for Mommy. And then we passed one of the lodges and I decided to wake the kids up for hot chocolate and a stroll through the gift shop so that I could buy their love again. It worked! We left the house at 10:00 a.m. and returned at 4:30 p.m. When Scott asked the kids about our day, they told him that we went to Sonic for lunch (which was true) and that it took a really long time to get there (which, given our route, was also true). Ahhh...making memories.
(Post hot chocolate and gift shop purchase attempt at a group picture.)
