Vaccinations today are routine, though under suspicion by some. A child can't go to school today unless they can show proof that they have been protected from a laundry list of diseases. Considering how these childhood diseases can sometimes be fatal, today's methods are far superior to what I grew up with, but we had no options. When I was a whippersnapper, we developed our immunities a little differently than those offered in a doctor's office today. These methods may seem barbaric but they were not an uncommon practice then.
We developed immunities simply by being exposed to, then suffering the disease, so as to never to have it again. The only vaccination offered and required, was for small pox. There was no need for documentation for that immunization. All who had been vaccinated carried a dime size scar on their shoulder. Proof positive. But there were other diseases lurking out there.
We had just recovered from the measles as a group when Jimmy came home with the whooping cough. Again, we all piled into one room and shared the wealth. Mother had to home school the boys to keep them from falling behind. I was preschool. The teachers worked with her to keep her sickly boys away from class.
By now, we were pretty peaked and run down so when the mumps reared its ugly head, we sure enough got it. Surprisingly, we did not get cranky with one another in the forced imprisonment. While one was usually wallowing in the beginning stage of the disease, two were usually well enough to play board games or read comics--or in my case, look at the pictures. We were seldom at the same stage at the same time. For siblings, we did quite well.
I don't think most kids went thru 3 diseases, back to back, like we did. It was really rough on us but also my Mother who had to tend to the sickies. Below is a picture I just love.
Mother sat us in the grass after we healed from our last disease, to document just what we had just been thru. She should have been in the picture for she was worn down also. We are racks of bones with dark circles under the eyes and too weak to smile, but we were carrying a life time of immunity in those scrawny bodies. We looked like those "starving children" that your parents made you eat your peas to support.
We got diseases from one another but it wasn't planned, like yours were. And you would have been fine if there weren't so many back to back. You were fine anyway! That picture tells the story. Daddy and I were confined with mumps at the same time, but we didn't have much in common, so we didn't play any games that I remember. :-)
ReplyDeleteDjan,
DeleteOooh, you didn't have a fun sick buddy. Sorry about that. Siblings are better.
As the oldest, was the leader with childhood diseases although the three younger ones were never sent to my room to catch whatever. Going to kindergarten did me in with one thing after another. I remember the chicken pox, the mumps, and seemingly endless ear infections.
ReplyDeleteOlga,
DeleteBet the younger ones caught it anyway. Seems the early grades are just full of germs. Lucky kids today with the vaccinations.
When we were little, my brother used to catch every childhood disease that was in town—mumps, chickenpox, etc. My mom would throw me in bed with him so I could catch it when I was young & develop an immunity. I never caught anything. As a child, that is. I got measles the semester I was entering UCLA.
ReplyDeleteFran,
DeleteI remember when you posted that and it reminded me of this. You really had a fabulous immune system--at least till you got to college.
I don't get the anti-vaccine crowd. Not all kids fared as well as you and your brothers. But like you said, your mother wasn't doing anything unusual for the times. Better to have all the kids in the family sick at once than spread out one after another.
ReplyDeleteJean R,
DeletePretty sure that was her thinking. I agree, why be sick, possibly die or have aftereffects when you don't have to? Today's kids are so lucky to have the vaccinations available.
I can't think of anything odd. I experienced measles and chickenpox like most kids, but I've never had the mumps.
ReplyDeleteStephen,
DeleteHope those nasty mumps stay away. They can really be serious on an adult.
My mother exposed me to German measles every chance she got so I'd have it before I was pregnant. Finally caught it at 16.
ReplyDeleteLinda M,
DeleteThat was really quite thoughtful of your Mom. That is such a serious disease for pregnant women.
We sometimes made each other sick, but there was no planning involved. I tended to get more communicable diseases than my siblings, and once spent six weeks in a bedroom downstairs and what seemed like a million miles away from the rest of the family when I had mononucleosis. It was a bummer.
ReplyDeleterobin,
DeleteOuch, that is a rough one to go through. Where is your twin when you need him? :))
I carry the scar on my shoulder and remember sitting in a room with my brother and sister while we all shared the mumps and chicken pox, I remember having the measles and am sure the wealth was shared there also ;)
ReplyDeleteJimmy,
DeleteYou lived through the share period also. It was better than going through it alone.
I do remember my two siblings and myself all being sick at the same time with chickenpox, mumps and measles. Not sure if those illnesses were on purpose or not.
ReplyDeleteAnnie,
DeleteWell in a family household, staying un-sick would have been hard. My mom just pushed the odds.
I think a lot of things we did in the past were better for us than all the chemicals we are forced to put in our children's bodies. My daughter has MS and I truly believe it was advanced by steroids she was given in the hospital. I had mumps and measles as a child and have been pretty healthy since and I am nearing seventy. I vote for less chemicals in the body rather than more, but we don't have a choice anymore when it comes to our children.
ReplyDeleteSnickelfritz,
DeleteI am so sorry about your daughter and MS. That is such a tough one but they have come a long way with it today. Putting her in my prayers.
Thank you. I have hope a cure will be found soon and that she can be helped. So many people have MS now that didn't have it years ago, so I am concerned about all the chemicals given to our children.
DeleteI recall hearing about that sort of immunization method but didn't know of anyone who used it as you describe with your siblings. My brother was a decade older, had been through the diseases before I was born, so I was on my own. My mother did intentionally have my smallpox vaccination administered to the top of my thigh where she thought it would be less apt to mar my physical appearance than my arm. Bathing suits girls worn covered more of the body then, but became increasingly skimpy in the following years so my vaccination was visible after all. I think they'll soon be thongs and nipple pasties. Only nudity could be next.
ReplyDeletejoared,
DeleteWell she really tried:) Something about the best laid plans---. Guess there will be no hiding it with nudity.
Cute picture but you did look a bit scrawny ! I was the youngest of 5 and, for some reason, seemed to be immune where the other 4 were not ... go figure.
ReplyDeleteGinnie,
DeleteLucky you. Gosh, do you suppose you were the carrier:))
I don't know to answer your question, but what I do know is that I probably nearly died from measles. I ended up in the hospital, so it was serious and I have never been that sick since. I remember it well. The big scare, pre-vaccine days, in my neighborhood was polio. Several people got it, including my cousin and my uncle who lived next door to us. Polio was the biggest scare of my childhood and I hope these vaccine deniers don't bring that back for their children to suffer its horrible effects.
ReplyDeleteInger,
DeleteI grew up in the polio scare time also. No public places or events for us. It was scary. Thank goodness that is no longer a fear.
Dear Patti, I don't remember handling immunity that way even though I did have a younger brother and so we could have done it. I do remember he and I going to the hospital to have our tonsils out and he could have malts afterward and my throat was so sore I couldn't! I was really angry with him about that!
ReplyDeleteAlso, like Inger, I remember the polio scare because the older brother and younger sister of one of my friends got it. Her sister died of it and her brother was left with an arm that didn't work well. That was the big scare back in the late '40s. Peace.
Dee,
DeleteBummer. You were gipped. I remember when my brother had his out and got all the ice cream he wanted. I begged for weeks to have mine taken out also:) Still got them today.
Indeed I was measles chickenpox etc. but I did get mumps till I was 19. That was ugly...
ReplyDeleteI think chickenpox was a family affair- and I know it was with my two kids. When I was a child I had to get vaccinated alot because we went to foreign countries like Panama and Canada, but while we were in Arkansas I did get the mumps and I will never forget that.
ReplyDeleteMy shot record looks like a criminals long list of crimes...I had all kinds of vaccinations. Remember the sugar lumps?
Now today we have a new group of parents who don't want to vaccinate their children.