I keep seeing the debates on “to vaccinate or not to vaccinate”. I despise needles; I hate the way I feel after I get a shot. I hate watching kids get shots, and I hate when they cry because the doctor said they needed the vaccines and I agree with them, making me feel guilty for the decision that was supposed to be right. It was supposed to be the right and mature call that most parents make. After all that, I realized I’d rather get a shot and be miserable for a day today, then down the line die. That’s the decision I made and I’m sticking to it.

I watch crime shows, I love them. However, in one episode of one of these shows I like, the bad guy wasn’t this evil and malicious villain. The “bad guy” was a mom who refused to vaccinate her kid, and the result of that decision caused a baby too young to be vaccinated die. Was this just a scare tactic the show used to get propaganda in our heads about an issue they felt strong enough? Maybe. Did it work? Oh heck yes it did.

What was made clear to me in this episode was that this mother’s decision not only allowed her child to get sick from a disease a vaccine could’ve easily prevented, it killed another who was too young to be offered prevention. I knew every decision I made could easily  either help or harm my child, most parents know this. Now, it’s apparent to me that the decisions I make not only affect my son, it could potentially affect any one he comes in contact with. I can’t have the death of a child on my conscience, I can’t handle that.

I don’t care if I’m considered a bad mother for this, I will vaccinate my children. I realize it’s a personal choice, and while I consider it stupid and selfish and irresponsible to not vaccinate your children, I accept other’s refuse to. I don’t understand why not. So what, they supposedly cause seizures and allergies? Apparently the latest Twilight movie does, but you still let your kids watch that movie. (A side note, no one should watch that terrible movie let alone your kids. Again, totally my opinion.) I’d rather chances of things that could be caused by hundreds of different other things than  killing my kid or someone else’s.

I’m not saying everyone should run out and get every vaccination ever created and dose up on antibacterial stuff. I’m saying that I believe that guidelines are there for a reason. Thanks to a lot of these vaccines, we’re protected from illness that could kill us or bring us very close to death. Because of a lot of these “harmful” vaccinations, we’re free and clear of several very deadly and miserable diseases. I’ll take that, even if it makes me have a bad reaction to a strobe light.