I’m Embarrassed to Admit This, but My Daughter Had a Vaccine Exemption!

The nurse at my daughter’s doctor’s office laughed at me when I shouted, “No one needs to know about this! I’m The Vaccine Mom!” But, after thinking and dwelling on this, I think everyone needs to know.

My daughter had her first day of preschool on tuesday, and like the crazy mother I am, I waited until the very last minute to get her vaccine records printed out. The morning before her first day I ran over to the doctor’s office thinking I’d get the sheet printed, no problem. I mean, it shouldn’t have been a problem because at every appointment I had pushed the doctor to make sure she got every single vaccine she needed. Right? WRONG!

As it turned out, she was missing one of her boosters.

I was livid. How did this happen? I specifically made sure that her doctor knew that she was to be given every single vaccine due at each visit. And I kept track. Well, maybe not well enough.

So who is to blame? Her doctor should have made sure she was getting all of her vaccines on schedule as I’d asked, but ultimately, I think it’s my fault. I’m her parent, and I should have been keeping better track of what was going on (or what wasn’t going on, rather).

And that’s why I needed to tell you all this little story. It’s so easy to get caught up in other things that you forget to keep track. And although you want to trust your doctors, sometimes they mess up. It’s up to you to make sure that your children are properly vaccinated.

So, after begging the nurse to just give my daughter that the missing booster that day, and her repeatedly telling me my daughter would have to come in the next day, I was left to give her school an exemption. You can go ahead and insert my screaming at the nurse, here: “I’m the Vaccine Mom! You tell NO ONE this is in my hand right now!”

But now everyone knows. The Vaccine Mom somehow missed an important booster. But, all is well now. My daughter started school and got the vaccine the next day. There is no more exemption on her vaccine record, and The Vaccine Mom can rest knowing her daughter is fully vaccinated!

Because it’s hard to keep track, here are some great resources that can help you:

• The CDC has a really great printable sheet you can use to keep track of the vaccines as well as your child’s major milestones, here.
• All of the CDC’s immunization schedule makers and trackers, here.
• Also look into using CHOP’s great vaccine information and scheduling app: Vaccines on the Go: What You Should Know. More information, here.