It’s that time of year again. Early fall and time for Teague’s annual check-up. The three girls have summer birthdays, but Teague’s mid-September birth puts us right on the cusp: some years, we schedule early enough to miss it and others, we are just in time. This year, we hit it right on the nose: flu shots had arrived.

My ambivalence towards the flu shot is evident from my children’s medical records. There are years when all three got the shot, years when no one got the shot, and years when the one who happened to be at the office got the shot. However, I suspected that this year might be different. Our new pediatrician happens to also be my neighbor. Although not as convenient as the kids assumed it would be when they believed we could now walk down our driveway to appointments, it brings me great peace of mind to have a professional so close. But now my flu shot indecision would be exposed. And I was quite confident avoidance would not be an option.

I double-upped on appointments: Teague’s seven-year and Jase’s two-month check-ups. I arrived with all four kids. When my five-year-old Reese asked if Teague and Jase would be getting shots. I gave my standard disclaimer, “I don’t know, we’ll have to see,” while dreading the inevitable.

The doctor asked, “Have they had their flu shots yet?” as she perused their files. She commented on the irregularity of their flu shot history and added, “Well, since you’re all here, why don’t we just take care it today?” And here we go…
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Tiny little miracles.

Admittedly, I was skeptical. This had to be a gimmick. Like the teddy bear with the sound of a human heart-beat meant to mimic an in-utero environment for baby (my babies must have been screaming in-utero, because that was the environment created by this somewhat creepy-looking bear). Another “promise to make your baby sleep” product, that was really just a blanket. Even the name –Miracle Blanket – a joke, right?

I was several weeks from delivering my fourth baby when the package arrived. I saw the return address and knew it would be something good. My girlfriend Jen is a notoriously great gift giver. So I was surprised when I opened the envelope to find a pink “Miracle Blanket” inside. I had just given away an entire Rubbermaid tub filled with blankets. My three older children shared in my disappointment. “It’s just a blanket, mom.”

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I watched my son pick up my iPhone last week, turn it on, and swipe his finger around until he found the App I had downloaded for my kids (Firefly) and play it. I was fascinated by this because I’ve never specifically taught him to do this and I don’t really want my phone to be used as a toy. I was also kind of proud that he was so technologically comfortable. Then his twin sister grabbed it from him and ran away so I had to intervene. 

It occurred to me that there are some devices that do make parenting and family-life easier and that I rely on them more than I realized. Take the iPhone which is now loaded with five Apps for pre-schoolers that I use to keep them occupied when we have an especially long wait somewhere and I need them in one spot. My other favorite is Skype. We live many states away from our family and friends but use Skype Video Chat to check in with them at least once a week. We even opened Christmas presents to the kidlets over Skype Video so my parents could see them open their gifts. It meant a lot to all of us and made the holidays more holiday-like even though we weren’t actually in the same room with our families.

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Lilia, who was almost a Lauren

There are so many naming sources out there, but my favorite is this one–Nameberry which has a list of what Supermodels have named their kids. It’s just for fun and it might just make that family name your husband is pushing for sound really normal.

And my trick? I put first and middle names on sticky notes and we posted them in the kitchen. So while I was pregnant we would add, subtract and re-arrange names until we settled on our favorites. Because one day they made sense to us and the next they didn’t.

Best of luck.

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