To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate: Is That Even a Question?

Before I learned that the supposed study linking vaccines to autism has been thoroughly debunked, reports about it caused my wife and I to think and talk seriously about the subject of vaccinations for our infant.
The thing that concerned us most was the idea that giving infants multiple vaccines at the same time might lead to complications never previously admitted by the medical industry.

I don’t have a lot of faith in the Food and Drug Administration because too many of its managers have come from the industries they are supposed to regulate, particularly the pharmaceutical companies, in whom I have even less faith.

The study that caused all the concern in the first place appeared in the British medical journal Lancet in 1998. In it, Dr. Andrew Wakefield claimed a link between the vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella and children who developed autism immediately after receiving the vaccines.

The idea that our son might develop autism as a result of receiving the vaccine was scary enough that we both had to give the matter careful thought before submitting our son to the tender mercies of his pediatrician. To be honest, the discussion didn’t last that long. While it is true that the rate of occurrence of autism has risen dramatically, I believe those who say a big part of the increase is due to improvements on the part of the medical establishment in diagnosing the condition. I don’t believe that accounts for all of the increase, though, which is why we took some time to consider Wakefield’s ideas.

We quickly came to the conclusion that the risk of contracting mumps, measles and rubella was far, far greater than the risk of contracting autism from the vaccine. My wife and I both held our son to comfort him and keep him still when he received the injections, and we were amazed as the nurse punctured his skin once, then twice, without so much as a whimper. A tear appeared when he was jabbed for the third time, and the fourth shot broke the floodgates. But the tears dried quickly, and as our son nears his fourth birthday, thankfully he has shown no signs of mumps, measles, rubella or autism.

And now it turns out our concerns may have been a waste of worry because Dr. Wakefield falsified the data in his study. An eight year investigation of the original study in Lancet showed Wakefield altered or misreported data in every case. Editors of the journal described the Wakefield study as “an elaborate fraud.”
Journalist Brian Deer exposed the fraud with an expose published in the Sunday Times of London.
He said British authorities discovered that of the 12 children Wakefield claimed developed autism immediately after receiving the vaccination, three were never diagnosed with autism and five others had shown signs of developmental disorders prior to receiving vaccinations. The records also showed that in many of the cases where autism was diagnosed, the symptoms appears months after vaccination, not hours or days as Wakefield had claimed.

Also, it wasn’t a blind study, as is normally the case for a genuine scientific study. Instead, he recruited subjects whose parents were convinced vaccine had damaged their children.

Topping it off was the revelation in 2003 that Wakefield had received payment from a personal injury attorney that wanted to extract damages from the vaccine makers. That revelation led 10 of his 13 co-authors to withdraw their endorsement of the study and for The Lancet to retract its publication.
Wakefield has since been stripped of his medical license and has been harshly condemned by other doctors from causing the deaths of the mumps, measles and rubella victims who have died as a result of the anti-vaccination movement that has used his work to convince people that vaccines are dangerous.

The direct result of this and other irresponsible misinformation on vaccinations has been a resurgence of dangerous diseases that were once on the brink of eradication. Now, this discredited individual has since been welcomed by anti-vaccination activists in the United States and has gone on the road, selling his particular variety of fear in books and seminars.

Wakefield’s saga will probably end in a court of law, with him on trial in connection with the death of a victim of his advice, the child of parents he counseled to forego vaccinations that would have saved the child’s life.
Don’t let that child be yours.

I don’t pretend to have the medical expertise necessary to dispense advice on medical matters, but I believe the fraud underlying Wakefield’s study destroys its credibility. The overwhelming majority of doctors and pediatricians believe the question of whether to vaccinate or not was settled decades ago, to the benefit of all. To that large majority, there is no question to consider.

As I said before, I’m not asking anyone to take my word for anything. My advice to other parents who stop to consider the matter is to consult with your own pediatrician. Maybe see what the American Academy of Pediatrics has to say.

Ten Great Things to do with Your Toddler

This is a list of suggestions, from the parent of a three-year-old boy to anyone who is looking for ideas on activities that give both parents and children a way to have a great time with each other.
Before we get into specific activities, I want to share a single overriding truth that makes finding suitable specifics easy. My personal experience and most of what I’ve read on parenting are in agreement on this, and for many of you it may be so obvious that the mention seems unnecessary, but I think it’s a point worth sharing.

The thing your young child wants to do more than anything else is to spend time doing ANYTHING with you. Knowing that, the details of specific activities aren’t really that important. Your toddler will enjoy just about any activity that enables them to spend time interacting with you.

Once your child has pretty well mastered walking, you have to be ready to kick it up a notch. Keeping up with your new little runner can be a daunting task at times, but you also get a fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Children probably have more curiosity when they are preschoolers than at any time in life. It’s a wonderful time to share your own interests with a new generation. Hobbies, sports and interests of all sorts can affect a person profoundly in early childhood, fostering lifelong passions and pathways.

If your child wants to do something you think is impractical, undesirable or impossible, offer a choice of two alternative things to do. My wife and I were happily surprised to find our son was willing to accept an alternative nearly every time if the choices involved doing something with one or both parents.

For parents on a tight budget, that‘s great news because it means your child will enjoy spending time hitting, throwing or bouncing a ball around with you just as much as spending time with you at a rate of $10 or $20 an hour. Most kids grow up knowing they can’t have everything they want, and those that grow up without expensive game systems or weekly horseback lessons are generally just as happy as their more prosperous counterparts, sometimes more so. The key to a happy childhood is rooted more in the memories of time spent with a loving family than to the material pleasures provided to the child.

Chances are your child will get as much or more pleasure watching you make sausage and eggs on a Coleman stove at a $12 a night state park campsite than they would from eating a room service breakfast in a nice hotel. I’m not just speculating here, as my son had both experiences for the first time on a recent weekend getaway. The campout was his reward after completing a full month after potty training with no accidents. The nice hotel was a reward for my wife and me.

My son was surprised and a bit perplexed the first time food was delivered to our hotel room, but if he felt any joy it was well-concealed. On the other hand, he was thrilled and amazed to learn that a hot breakfast was possible after sleeping in a tent in the woods. That’s the breakfast he’ll remember and the smile the lights my memory.

Time after time, the truly priceless memories come without a significant price tag, and I’m pretty sure that’s how it was meant to be.

Without Further Ado, Here’s 10 Tried and True Great Things To Do:

Visit an interactive science museum with little minds in mind. My wife and I took our son to COSI (Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, OH) which Parents Magazine rated the No. 1 museum in the country. Not only did we all have a great time, our son is still making references to things he saw or learned on the trip many months later. I went to COSI during my own childhood and my favorite memory was of watching the big pendulum knock balls off their perches. Now it’s my son’s favorite memory, too.

Read a Book. This is your chance to have a little fun putting on wild character voices to help really unleash your child's imagination. You can also increase your child’s interest in reading by finding books and magazines dealing with subjects in which they are interested. A few months after I started giving him magazines, my 3-year-old son could read many words and names. Here’s a few suggestions: All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty.

Look for turtles, frogs and fish at a local creek. My son and I rescued a turtle from a busy road and brought him home with us for a couple of days then released him in a creek near where we found him. Be sure to do your homework on providing a healthy environment for any critter you may bring home and make sure you aren’t “abducting” a legally protected species, or a dangerous one! You don’t have to bring anything home to have a great time, though. Your child will get a kick just from seeing wildlife in its native habitat.

Visit a national or state park. Great fun is available on a tiny budget at U.S. National Parks and state parks around the country. Children love to go adventuring and exploring with their parents, and these park systems offer great venues for you to show your child how awesome our world can be. Cross-country trips provide superb opportunities for such visits, even with time constraints. With a little advance research and planning, you can avoid unwanted delays. With help from the U.S. National Parks Service website, we included stops at Mammoth Cave and the St. Louis Arch on our last trip. These were very rewarding, fun-filled visits, but each stop took less than two hours! The secret is to buy tickets in advance, avoid weekends if possible and go early. Signs warning of long lines begin miles from Mammoth Cave, but there were only six cars in the parking lot when we arrived half an hour before opening time on a Tuesday.

Plant some vegetables – either in a garden or a pot. This is not only a fun activity, but one that will get your child excited about eating veggies. This can be an ongoing activity due to the seasonality of some plants. Strawberries are great, though you may have to defend them from a variety of critters, such as rabbits. And speaking of rabbits, strawberries seem to reproduce like rabbits, as I started with two plants and three years later the patch covers 20 to 30 square feet. Give ’em room to grow. Tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes, are another good choice, along with squash and zucchini. Carrots are easy to grow and great for teaching your child about edible roots. Corn is never better than when you can harvest and cook it in the same afternoon. Finally, watermelons and pumpkins are crops that will probably yield the biggest smiles from your little ones.

Break out some old school games and puzzles. In the age of Wii, PS3 and X-Box, old school classics such as Candy Land, Checkers and Backgammon are valuable means to help your child understand basic math concepts and spatial logic. Not to mention lessons in sportsmanship and social interaction. My kiddo recently played his first game of Candy Land, beating both Mommy and Daddy. Picture puzzles can also aid in the development of a child’s understanding of some spatial concepts. The new, large floor puzzles are ideal for older toddlers and feature appealing images such as Thomas the Tank Engine, a fire engine or the solar system. Once your tyke is old enough to read and write, Scrabble and Boggle will encourage them to expand their vocabulary and spelling skills.

“Take me to the river.” Most kids will jump at the chance to go swimming, waterskiing, boating or anything that gets them into or close to a large body of water. Indoor aquatic centers provide the opportunity for year-round swimming and most newer facilities have toddler-specific areas. Even if you have a pool in the backyard, your child will likely jump at any chance to go to the beach. Once they reach high school, your only role at the beach will be as transportation so enjoy the time they enjoy being with you! Motorized watercraft are another matter. Kids enjoy boating, waterskiing and personal watercraft so much that even teenagers will be happy to spend time with you as long as you have the keys to one of these. If geography or budget precludes any or all of the aforementioned activities, you can give your toddler to pre-teen some backyard water fun on the cheap with a Slip ‘n Slide. You can buy the genuine Wham-O product online, starting under $20 for the basic model. I don’t recommend cheaper imitations, as some manufacturers use insufficiently slippery plastic. Regardless of what type of water fun you propose, your child is likely to be happy about it. Naturally, safety is the watchword for all water activities and lifejackets should be mandatory for kids on watercrafts or swimming in rivers, lakes or oceans.

Ride a Train. Even when trains were the most common form of transportation, kids loved them and that hasn’t changed. Taking the train can turn a routine trip into an adventure if you live where rail passenger service is readily available. For those of us who live in states where passenger trains are few and far between, railroad museums, tourist railroads and dinner trains offer the chance to ride the rails. These operations often provide special trains for children, such as the Polar Express or Santa Claus Specials in December, or visits by Thomas the Tank Engine. Tourist trains often run through picturesque, beautiful countryside you would not see from a highway. On a recent trip to Arkansas, my family rode trains on the Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railroad in Eureka Springs and the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad in Springdale, Ft. Smith and Van Buren. There are railroad adventures to be had in every state and no one enjoys them more than kids. Just Google railroad museum and/or dinner train, along the appropriate state name(s), and you’ll find a nearby train to ride with your child.

Go on a Big Adventure. As a reward, I took my boy on his first camping trip at a state park which featured swimming and nature hiking. My wife and I camp regularly, so the overnight was a natural choice for us since we don’t like leaving our son behind. It was a BIG adventure for a 3-year-old, and we spent weeks building up the anticipation. One great side benefit: a few gentle reminders and your child will stay on their best behavior in the weeks leading up to a big adventure they don’t want to miss!

Let Your Kid Pick an Activity – The last time I gave my son the choice, he asked to watch a monster movie and eat popcorn, two of my favorite things. Score for both of us! Give it a try - chances are you’ve got a child who wants to share in some of your favorite things.

Passing a Torch

I belong to a group of hobbyists whose ranks have been shrinking for several decades, a fact that saddens me greatly because it was the source of the strongest bond between my Dad and I. As a loose aggregate, we are known as railfans, and a shared love of railroading builds links within families and across generations.

We’re really talking about two hobbies with a common theme, model railroading and rail fanning. The latter involves locating real locomotives.

My Dad took me to grand railroad stations and other good train spotting locations to see the real thing, mostly the giant Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads, which merged to form the ill-fated Penn Central, which in turn vanished into Conrail with five other bankrupt eastern railroads. Those trackside adventures, and the time we spent recreating such scenes on the HO scale layout in our basement, remain among the strongest and happiest memories of my very early childhood. We forged new railroading memories throughout my youth and into my teens.

My Dad and I didn’t connect on many other things, making our “railroad ties” that much more important. I still get a kick out of the fact that, after retiring, my Dad took over my former part-time job at Branchville Hobbies. But that’s another story.

My greatest joy as a railfan comes when I discover an old diesel made by Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse, Lima or Alco, all of which ceased manufacturing locomotives in the 1950s and 60s. It doesn’t matter whether it’s running or not — simply finding one of these things still in existence is thrill enough. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a female who has the same kind of passion for what most people see as a rusty old pile of junk.

For that reason, and because I feel a strong need to replace myself in the ranks of railfans and model railroaders, I was elated to learn my wife and I were having a son. It’s an unfortunate fact that females are a distinct minority among model railroaders and railroad photographers. Perhaps it is because they are wise enough not to get emotional about a machine, which is inevitably doomed to be cut to pieces after as little as a decade or two of service. I think it’s a male thing having to do with machinery. There are enthusiasts for cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, buses, ocean liners, military vehicles, antique farming equipment, you name it. If it’s a type of machine, there are probably fans for it. And most of them seem to be male.

My wife has been a faithful companion on my forays into the seediest industrial sections of big cities, and the most desolate and remote locations for scenic railroad mainline action. She has become more of a railfan than I even had a right to dream. But after a decade, she still would be hard pressed to identify the manufacturer of any particular engine we might happen to see, let alone its model number. Conversely, I fully expect my son to eventually know more about diesel engines than I ever did, and to experience the same thrill of discovery that I do upon finding a rare locomotive unexpectedly. It may not work out that way, but it won’t be for a lack of trying, LOL. As my newly-delivered son was moved from the delivery table, I moved into position alongside the cleanup station. The nurse wiped the goop from his eyes and held him aloft to behold the first thing he would ever see, the outstretched arms of his smiling Daddy - and the image of an oversized Pennsylvania Railroad Keystone logo and three locomotives emblazoned on my T-shirt.

So, if it could ever be said that someone was “born” to do something, one could say he was born to be a railfan. Three years down the track, Nathan has “met” and ridden behind Thomas the Tank Engine three times, gone on a couple of Christmas Expresses, ridden tourist trains through scenic wonders and even ridden in the cab of a 1942-vintage SW-1 diesel. When he sees the Pennsy Keystone, he says, “Look! That’s a Keystone, the first thing I ever saw!” And you can imagine how that makes me feel.
For you, it may be a Yankees baseball, fishing or a vast knowledge of NASCAR, the specifics don’t matter. It’s the joy of sharing a passion for something that binds father and son (or parent and child) and creates memories that will be cherished for life.

Fathering with Faith

When I first saw my son, I felt a million things in my heart. Love, admiration, joy, trepidation and wonder were the most prevalent. During the next few weeks, I learned more than I had in the previous 5 years. Diaper duty - check, midnight feedings - check, check, 2 a.m. feedings - triple check, 4 a.m. feedings… you get the idea. Lullabies - I reached pro status. Spit up cleaner upper - eh, I tried a few times, but thank goodness for my wonderful wife.

We had more supplies than an army headed for combat just to get our 7-pound son through the day. But the best tool I have always had as a father is my faith. No amount of bottles, diapers, onesies or Mylicon could ever match the security that comes from my Heavenly Father. It didn’t take me long to realize that faith in my Father would enable me to be the father I wanted to be. No matter how sleep deprived I’ve been or whatever frustrations have crossed my path, I’ve always been able to find strength, peace, wisdom, guidance and inspiration in Him.

My now-toddler son is beginning to understand the Christian concepts of unconditional love, patience and faithfulness. These are things that will carry us through his entire life. They will help me teach him some of life’s most important lessons and arm him with confidence and love. The best advice I can pass along to dads of all kinds is to have a little faith to share with your children. My resolve is to live by example and father with faith.

I’ll end with a few of my favorite NIV verses for dads and I invite you to share your favorites too.

Proverbs 22:6: Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

2 Corinthians 12:14-15: Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always homes, always perseveres.

Proverbs 1: 8-9: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

Psalm 103:13: As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.