today, as dd was still off colour following her vaccinations. So that meant that we didn’t make it to the drama workshop for the home ed group, or the walk in the bluebells for woodcraft. Shame, as I’d been looking forward to both activities.
So we were quiet, mainly, with a sleep in the afternoon. I even rang the doctors and spoke to the doctor to be told that if the temperature went on for more than a couple of days then it would be assumed that she had a different illness coincidentally at the same time as the vaccinations. Hm, think I’m beginning to understand how come there aren’t very many recorded reactions to vaccinations then!
Got a phone call as I was preparing tea from one of the home ed group who also attends woodcraft – hoping that I was going and could give them a lift. Explained the situation and found myself being told that I was obviously reading the wrong books on vaccinations…hm, I’ve got a fairly open mind, and I didn’t take the cricitism personally (even accepted the offer of a callback to discuss it further, and will read the offered books), but it does occur to me (and I’ve phrased and rephrased this attempting to cause as little offence as possible) that some ppl of alternative lifestyles do themselves few favours by assuming that because ppl have taken one step off the main road that they are willing to go further…
that doesn’t say what I want to say at all. Might try again tomorrow.
Comments
15 responses to “the plan fell by the wayside”
((Jax)) I know what you meant – and I agree with you. People with firmly held convictions can sometimes put their point rather forcefully!
(going to start putting a C here, it gets confusing ;)!) I think I know what you’re saying too, and have been in similar awkward conversations …
Now, where’s your blogring?!
it’s over there!
I know exactly what you mean. I think i am virtually an alternative person in the HE world by doing most of the things the mainstream alternative-ers do! lol!
Well, I can’t see any of your links in IE! They’re there in Netscape though …
Though I am slightly confused by what you are all saying I thought I would add my thoughts. Sometimes I feel that by buying into HE there is an ‘expectation’ that you must buy into all the alternatives to the mainstream, vegetarianism (sp?), anti-nestle, homeopathy, anti-vaccs,home-birth, breast-feeding etc etc. And it’s probably true that amongst HErs there are *more* people doing these other things than in the general population. The point with HE is that most people have looked at the ‘evidence’ weighed up the alternatives and made their choice. It seems reasonable to me therefore to assume that these same people apply the same decision making process to other issues. It seems unlikely having done it in relation to HE that the same weighing up won’t have been done in relation to vaccinations for instance. What I don’t like is the assumption of some that you can’t have really thought about something carefully because you have chosen the mainstream path. It is possible that some mainstream choices are ‘better’ for a family with other choices being ‘less mainstream’.
Last year at HESFES someone came up to me and asked me for some homeopathic remedy – she seemed to think I was barking mad, and somewhat odd, not to have any.
They’re your decisions.
Jax, can you increase the text area size in the comments template please? I think the default is just to small for reading back.
I tried to let this pass, but ‘to small’?!!!
I couldn’t agree with you more Chris. There is a basic assumption amoung any sort of “niche” group you may join that you will all share moral and political beliefs without exception. I’m not talking about anyone in our immediate circle here but I find this tendancy amoung the wider HE bunch to be highly irritating.
As we all have the freedom to make our own individual choices I’m not going to wax lyrical about my opinion of vaccinations here but as I do have a very clear position on them based on the weighing up of scientific evidence (as I’m 99.99% sure Chris does too) I’d be very interested to see what books have been recommended to you (just out of curiosity).
P.S. Your side bar is invisible in IE6 but I can see it in NS7.
P.S. That last post sounded A bit abrupt, didn’t mean it too. I’ll add some smileys to take the edge off it. 🙂 🙂 🙂
My side bar or Jax’s…..
Sarah, I hang my head in shame…..I have a malfunctining ooo oon my keyboard sooo I hoope yu will excuse me this nce.
Jax’s side bar is missing in IE 🙂
We haven’t vaccinated Alex. But for the last 6 months or so I’ve doubted my ability to make any sort of reasonable decision. I truly don’t know any more whether my decision was based on the fact that I knew other people who did it or on the evidence I read. Did I begin to doubt my decision when I thought about other people actually vaccinating? I dunno. And all this then makes me wonder if I’m actually mature enough to be a mum and making decisions about 2 other little people. Quite depressing really, I really need to think about it all again with a fresh head. I’m not sure I even trust myself to come to a good decision about it all. Bet that sounds so silly.
Anyway, I can’t see anything on the side bar in IE.
Hm…… oh yes. I hadn’t vacc’d Ams cos of her eczema but i don’t know whether the group “peer pressure” might have swayed me if she hadn’t had eczema. When she had chicken pox i realized that i am NOT alternative in any way shape or form and i do not yet feel the need to be so paranoid as to believe people do deliberate medical damage to children for no reason. And given that i “could” if i wanted jump on the autism bandwagon too (not with any great reason, its just there to be jumped on) i’ve come to the conclusion that i’m just not an anti-vax’er. On the other hand, long before i knew anything about anything, i chose to delay Frans till she was almost 2 and i almost trust that gut reaction more than anything else. Its one i have stuck to all through my other children.
Well with Marcus I just did as I was told. I seriously didn’t know there was an option. With Alex I’d found HE and all that goes with it ;o)
I just need some confidence and trust in my own decisions. Unfortunately I don’t even have a partner who has an opinion on stuff who I can discuss it with :o( Now if it was the merits of different mobile phones or cars perhaps he’d want to talk about it. *sigh* can you tell today has been a bad day??
Chris – you’ve got it – that is just what I was trying to say. Thanks 😉