by Leslie Morgan Steiner (Two Cents on Working Motherhood)
Not the flu itself. I mean stories about swine flu. How to avoid getting it. When to quarantine your household. When to rush to the hospital. HOW WHERE WHEN the vaccine is available. The thousands who were vaccinated today! The millions who went home disappointed! The people who lie about pregnancy or underlying illness to pilfer the vaccine!
I feel like the only mom in America who actually WANTS to get swine flu.
Now let me stress – before you wipe your holier-than-thou nostrils and throw snotty tissues at me – that I do not advocate intentional exposure to the virus. I’m in a unique position. I have no underlying conditions. I am not pregnant (oh yeah!). I am healthy (physically at least; mentally is another story). My kids are robust dynamos ages 7 to 12 with no risk factors either. We rank just below “nowhere” on the nation’s priority list for vaccinations. However, I do have two relatives battling cancer and undergoing chemo and radiation, who are legitimately terrified of getting swine flu because, um, it would probably kill them. I would never belittle anyone’s fears about illness and my heart goes out to every family who has lost a loved one to this awful virus.
But I want it. Now. Now is a good time. I don’t have any deadlines looming, presentations due, or business travel planned. Both my husband and babysitter are A) in town and B) healthy themselves.
So can we just get swine flu now and get it over with?
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Leslie Morgan Steiner authors Two Cents on Working Motherhood on MommyTracked. She is the editor of the best-selling anthology Mommy Wars and the memoir Crazy Love. Steiner is a frequent guest on the Today Show, MSNBC, and regularly contributes to The New York Times, Newsweek and Vanity Fair. She lives with her husband and 3 kids in Washington, DC.
