The three college kids had a long weekend, so they are home and we’ll take them all back to school tomorrow. While they were home, I made appointments for them to get flu/Covid shots. Except that wasn’t the first step. The first step was I texted the three of them, saying “I wish to make you appointments for flu/Covid shots while you’re home.” Then I waited.

This tentative approach comes from their ages: Henry is 19 now, and the twins are 21. It’s not just that they’re legal adults: if, when they were, say, 16, they had strong opinions about something medical, I wouldn’t have immediately/inevitably been like “NO, I AM THE PARENT.” But Henry in particular has drawn a sharp line at legal adulthood; and he is alert, in a way none of his siblings have been, to Me Making Decisions That Are Technically His To Make (though not, I notice idly, alert to the idea of Paying Bills That Are Technically His To Pay). So I am trying to be careful of that line that matters to him, and to avoid overstepping, and to show I am AWARE of that line. (I do find this in-between stage so frustrating: either take care of it yourself or else don’t object to me doing it!! Gah!!)

But on the other hand, because we have an immunocompromised household member, vaccination is not really a “you’re an adult, do what you want” decision to me. So if I had suggested the vaccination appointments, and any of the three kids had said no, I don’t know what the next step would have been. (I was particularly dreading the “Oh, I’ll go to the on-campus clinic”—since NOT ONE SINGLE TIME has that resulted in a kid actually attending the on-campus clinic.) So I was glad no one said no. Elizabeth texted “Fine with me,” neither of the other kids responded; I waited 24 hours and then went ahead and booked the appointments. When they arrived home, I clarified with them in person that I hadn’t heard back from two of them, so I’d gone ahead and made the appointments, but that they were adults and…This is where Elizabeth clicks an imaginary remote control at me and says “Skip skip skip.”

I got my own flu/Covid shots at the same time the kids got theirs. This was yesterday. I’d been planning to get the two shots on different days, but then realized I have a trip to see my parents soon and really should have gotten both shots LAST week, but certainly should get them NOW. Every year I am interested to hear what the side effects are like (it’s one of the reasons I usually like to get the shots on different days: because I want to know which effects went with which shot), so I will say that I got one in each arm yesterday at 3:00 in the afternoon, and about 12 hours later was waking up with chills, muscle aches, joint pain, and queasiness. “A nice vigorous immune response!,” I thought to myself, attempting positivity as I tried to make myself get out of bed to get another blanket, when I was too cold to sleep and also too cold to get out from under the blanket I already had. I dozed intermittently and uncomfortably until morning, when I got up, teetered painfully to the bathroom, drank a big glass of water, took two ibuprofen and part of a caffeine tablet, texted Paul to ask him to bring me some saltines, and got back into bed. An hour after that, I felt up to showering. It’s midday now, and I still feel sore and chilly, not much appetite, and I took more ibuprofen when the first dose wore off; but I’m up and around and doing things, not huddled miserably under the covers. So for me, this was a fairly normal year, maybe on the milder side. I’m interested to hear what your experience was, if you’ve gotten either/both shots this year.