“Don’t you know that vaccines cause autism?” Actually, they don’t. The British doctor who spread that fallacy admitted to falsifying the data and his name was stricken from the British Medical Register. (Translation: he lost his license to practice medicine.) Unfortunately, airhead celebrities like Jenny McCarthy are still spreading that lie. Daniel is completely caught up on vaccines and if I had any say in the matter, all kids would be required to be vaccinated. There’s no excuse for kids in the USA dying from diseases like whooping cough if the access to vaccines exists.
“Have you heard of the GAPS diet? It cures autism.” Yes, I’ve heard of it — I don’t think any parent of an autistic kid hasn’t because we do a huge amount of research in the hopes of finding something to help our kids. It also doesn’t cure autism because there is no cure. It sometimes *helps* some kids who have gluten intolerances and whose behavior is affected by them but it isn’t a cure-all thing. Besides, I have a kid with enough food issues that I’d rather not do anything to limit his diet any more than it already is.
“I can’t believe you didn’t breastfeed Daniel. Don’t you know that ‘breast is best’???” The fun part is that it’s people who know about my pregnancy from hell and the emergency c-section from the HELLP Syndrome who ask me this. Anyway, I have no regrets about not breastfeeding with Daniel. I actually did try pumping but I was so incredibly sick that I needed the sleep too much to have to wake up every few hours to pump. My doctor and I made the decision to suppress my milk supply (it had already started coming in because of the pumping) and it was probably what got me out of the hospital sooner rather than later.
“I can’t believe you want to vote for Obama!!!” I’d love to respond by saying that I can’t believe they would vote for Romney, but that would be wrong to do. 🙂 In all seriousness, I vote my conscience and I can’t, in good conscience, support Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan. Our third party system is crappy at best so my other option is Obama. I stay out of discussions of this on Facebook and elsewhere because I believe one of the blessings of being American is being allowed to vote one’s conscience. If your conscience says “Romney”, more power to you. Mine says “oh Hades no!” to the though of voting for Mitt Romney so “Obama” it is.
“What do you mean your son has never had McDonald’s?!?!?!? Are you some kind of hippie granola freak?” Strangely, I’ve gotten this from people who are astonished that Daniel wasn’t breastfed. No, he has never had McDonald’s. He had a lot of texture issues when he finally started eating solid foods and I just never took him through the drive-thru because I didn’t think he’d eat it. When we were at his preschool picnic in May, peoples’ jaws dropped when they saw me bring the exact same lunch item for Daniel as I had brought for myself instead of going the Happy Meal route. I did get him a cheeseburger from Carl’s Jr a few days later and he was chill with that; but I’ve never gotten him anything from McDonald’s and probably won’t in the foreseeable future.
“Why aren’t you homeschooling Daniel because he’s autistic?” The thought of homeschooling Daniel has never occurred to me and when Jon brought it up, I shot it down immediately… and that was before he was diagnosed with autism. I am not a patient person by nature and homeschooling was never in the plans, especially once he was diagnosed with autism. While I’ve had ABA training, I would rather have people who are far better trained than I am working with him. His preschool class provides him with music, art, behavioral therapy, speech therapy, and teachers/aides who adore the kids. I couldn’t ask for a better situation, especially in a public preschool. Not to mention, he gets mainstreamed with the other state preschool classes in increasing amounts which is educational for them as well as for him.
“Can’t you just take some Tylenol for your fibromyalgia?” If that was a possibility, don’t you think I’d be doing that instead of spending $50+ a month on gabapentin and massage therapy? If you want your death to be slow and painful, just tell me that you don’t think fibromyalgia exists. I dare you!
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It’s amazing how nosy people are these days. I went to high school with a girl and her parents didn’t even tell the other spouse who they voted for! IT’s crazy how sm has changed the way we vote.
I can remember having McDonalds as a kid and it was a TREAT/BIG DEAL if we got to have it. Although there was a big phase in elementary school where we would go to Burger King almost once a week for “kids night” since it was only a dollar for us. I want to say kids night was also the same night as religious education so it worked out. To this day I’m not a huge fast food person. Sadly it’s sometimes cheaper to get chinese food and I get twice as much food!!
My friend had a similar issue with breastfeeding. People were all u need to “bond” with your son and feed him/breastfeed. Her parents helped her a lot since she was in and out of the hospital for 2 months DYING!! She was like if I could I would!
#5. People are always surprised that my kids eat the same thing as we, adults do. That includes McDonald’s, if we go. Not paying double for a cheap plastic toy…
#4 – I can’t believe you want to vote for Obama! Well, scratch that I believe it, I just don’t understand. 😉 That’s your business though, and your right, and you don’t have to explain it to anyone, which is pretty cool when you think about it.
I do understand not wanting to vote for Romney, though, I don’t really want to, even though I’m sure I’ll end up doing so… darn, two-party system….
Politics this season makes me go Blerg. (Although these last 4 years went by crazy fast–didn’t we JUST have an election?)
The vaccine-autism link burns my brisket. I’m just learning now that it’s important to do independent research on what your ob/gyn and pediatrician recommend, and the quack science makes everyone who doesn’t want to sign on for the full AAP recommended schedule look like a loon.
Then again, I’m the one spending hours on PubMed double-checking everything my doctor prescribes and researching the best pain relief for circumcision. I may be a little overboard but I hope that doesn’t make me a Jenny McCarthy!
I am very grateful that you enthusiastically support vaccinations! My kids have been vaccinated on schedule and I feel confident in our decision. I’ve always been confused by all the people delaying them. I must admit that I am not a big researcher, so I don’t know a whole lot about it one way or another. But my dad, who is in the medical field, always encouraged me to do the vaccines, so we have. I trust my dad over any other medical professional.
I completely believe your fibromyalgia exists and causes you pain. I experienced debilitating abdominal pain for several years before anyone believed me. My OB/Gyn finally did surgery and discovered that I had endometriosis. You know your body and you are your own best advocate. Prayers!!!
As for the breastfeeding thing! Jeez! People are so nosy and rude. Want to hear a shocker? I didn’t nurse either of my kids. With #1, I was so traumatized by the pain of delivery, I didn’t even try nursing. With #2, I nursed her while in the hospital, but stopped before we went home. It was painful and difficult for me emotionally. I didn’t have any support, either. I know that breast is best, but I do not regret my decision with either one of them. They are healthy as can be!
I wish people would realize the importance of a filter and just their darn mouths!!!
The breastfeeding thing just infuriates me. There are just too many “breastfeeding nazis” out there trying to jam it down everybody’s throats. I think it is important to educate pregnant women about the benefits of breastfeeding and give them support for how to breastfeed if they choose to try it, but beyond that, BACK OFF!!! Nobody should be judged on whether or not they breastfed. Of my three kids, the one with the most health problems (allergies, asthma, reflux, ITP, etc.) is the one who was breastfed the longest! So don’t even try to tell me that breastfeeding automatically makes a kid healthier. There are so many different reasons why someone may not breastfeed (mother’s health, going back to work, supply issues, cultural beliefs, etc.)… nobody should have to justify whether they did or didn’t breastfeed. That issue just chaps my ass!