Yesterday we were supposed to have a playdate with a couple friends. But one friend called me in the morning to cancel. She had just found out that another friend’s child had chicken pox so she wanted to go and expose her own children, get it over with. This is something she has been hoping to do for a while, waiting for the right opportunity. My friend offered to pass the favor on to us when her own kids get the chicken pox.
I’d consider taking her up on her offer and exposing my girls to chicken pox but I have a couple reasons to decline right now. Although I did not vaccinate my children for varicella, since I prefer for them to receive immunity from the disease, right now wouldn’t be the best time for them to get sick. With Ted’s new job and the holidays on the way, I’d rather wait until another season. Maybe another year or two, so that Elisabeth isn’t a baby. Right now she’s old enough to be miserable, but not old enough to understand what it is to be ill (and not to scratch!). If the girls don’t get chicken pox by the time they reach adolescence, I’ll probably get them the vaccine. No sense in risking shingles and the nastier complications that come in adulthood.
But I’m sorry my friend missed our playdate. I need to go send her a note. I’m thinking of writing something like this, “Sorry you couldn’t make it to our playdate. We missed seeing you. But I hope you get what you wanted. I hope your kids get sick.”