Can we say “duh”? News flash: Measles Vaccine Still Doesn’t Cause Autism. The paper on this is here. I will be writing more about this in order to explain the scientific bases of all of this in the next week or so.
Until then… VACCINATE YOUR FREAKING KIDS!!!! And for those who claim a selective/delayed vaccine schedule is a good thing, your argument has been proven invalid in this study.
Wonderful concert. I was blessed to be able to hear the Claremont Chamber Choir sing tonight at the Drinkward Recital Hall at Harvey Mudd College. One of the basses was conducting it as part of his studies toward a DMA in Conducting. It was interesting to watch Dr. Charles Kamm (the actual director) sing because he was so expressive and looked like he was having a lovely time.
Seriously, one of the positives of my living situation is that I have free concerts in the community that are of serious quality. Tonight’s concert was a collection of madrigals and folk music from around the world and it was heavenly.
Rachel Held Evans’ most recent book. I finished Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans today and I highly recommend it to anyone wondering why Millenials are leaving the faith in droves as well to those who have left the faith and might be slightly amenable. Rachel’s sister Amanda is a singer/songwriter and she composed a few songs based on the sacraments framing the book. Everyone who pre-ordered the book received a download code for the album and I found them to be positively fabulous.
Another person created seven pictures of birds based on things they read in the book. I think my favorite one is for “Communion” and involves hummingbirds drinking around a flower.
A thank you. I was at Target with Daniel this afternoon and decided to have him put stuff on the belt to practice good behavior while shopping. The woman in front of us watched for a bit and complimented him on how he was doing. She then looked up at me and said, “You’re a good mother.”
I honestly don’t think she realized how much I needed to hear that after Daniel had a rather public tantrum on Sunday.
On the subject of kids and cats… I saw this online a few days ago and had to share. It’s a tongue-in-cheek list of reasons that kids should never have cats. It’s amusing to say the least.
Love. I’ve missed two Sundays due to fibro-related fatigue so Bible study on Wednesday was one of my chances to connect to church. I ended up sitting next to one of our founding members M who is 94 and reminds me so much of my grandma. Our priest was passing around pictures she took while walking the Camino de Santiago last year and M had just gotten shots in her eyes so she couldn’t see them. I spent much of Bible study taking her hand and pointing out various things in the pictures for her. When Bible study ended, she gave me a hug and told me she loved me.
No lie, it brought me to tears at that point and remembering it brings me to tears now because she reminds me so much of my grandma who I thankfully got to see a few months ago (for the first time in 4 1/2 years) but who I miss dreadfully. (She’s in Washington and I’m in southern California.)
Weekly trash-talking regarding baseball. I do believe my boys (the Giants) done swept my husband’s boys (the Dodgers). And wait… don’t I recall Jon saying that he’d get a pedicure in Giants’ colors if they swept like that? To the nail place we go!
For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.
I was pumped the Tigers swept the Indians but then they kept losing to the Yankees 🙁
and you are a good mother! <3
I want to see pictures of the pedicure! And you are a very good mother.
We all need moments of affirmation. I’m glad that you were able to get some at Target. 🙂
As for #1 . . . I really don’t want to get into a discussion or debate. However, I do think it is VERY important to remember that a one-size-fits-all approach is completely absurd when it comes to vaccines.
Great to hear from you, Rachel!
I’m not advocating a one-size-fits-all attitude toward vaccines. I have friends whose kids have had reactions to them which have landed them in the ER and I myself have to be super careful because of my egg allergy. What I’m not OK with is parents basing their decision not to vaccinate on faulty research. The study that said that the MMR vaccine causes autism was based on faked results, the journal publishing it has retracted it, and the postulator lost his license to practice medicine in the UK over it. Jenny McCarthy has also made this claim though I tend to disbelieve her because again, the research has been disproven. I *have* an autistic kid and the signs were there WAY before he was vaccinated. (The theory on what caused it in my son Daniel ranges from genetics on both sides of the family to the fact that most brain development happens in the third trimester… and he was born at 29.6 weeks.)
I think people who don’t vaccinate are just plain selfish. They are counting on the rest of us who do vaccinate to keep their families safe. And in doing so, they are putting unvaccinated babies and immunocompromised people are risk as well.