I’ve been tuning out a lot of the media coverage of the swine flu, partly because information seems to change daily and partly because I’m pretty much just tired of hearing about it. But my ears perked up when I heard that otherwise healthy Canadian children have died as a result of the virus. Now I’m wondering if my kids and I are going to have to be social outcasts for the next four months.
Sure, doctors say cases like that of 13-year-old Evan Frustaglio from Toronto are rare: the boy died just days after the onset of symptoms and had no underlying health conditions. But it’s still got me freaked out.
A friend mentioned that she’s having a birthday party for her three-year-old this weekend and asked if we wanted to come, though she added that she understood if we didn’t want to be going to a public jungle gym and exposing ourselves to countless germs. Her point struck a chord, and to be honest, I really don’t want to expose my boys to a germ fest.
But I don’t want to be paranoid either. What are we going to do, just lock ourselves indoors every weekend? Not likely. Plus my older child goes to preschool, so he’s already around lots of other little ones anyway.
Nevertheless, I’m finding it hard to strike that fine balance between cautiousness and fearlessness. What a lousy way to head into winter.