It took a lot of cohersion but ultimately Sam did manage to go trick or treating this evening. With his lion costume having fallen out of favour, it wasn't looking like we were going to be able to convince him of the merits of going out but faced with imminent bathtime, he decided it was wiser to risk it and visit our eighty-something year-old neighbour across the street. Wearing only the top half of his costume, he was nonetheless spoiled rotten as she insisted on giving him doubles of everything she had. She also packed me off with a tin of freshly baked cookies. Pretty good haul considering we travelled only a handful of meters from our front door. The trick or treaters are pretty thin on the ground this evening so it's looking like we'll be having to deal with lots of leftover Halloween candy. Whatever shall we do...
We're feeling a lot more relaxed today than we have in recent weeks with the H1N1 flu pandemic gaining momentum. We were fortunate to get Sam vaccinated with his H1N1 shot yesterday afternoon as he is in the high risk group of young children. All told, from getting in line (an hour before the clinic opened) to leaving with him immunized, the whole experience took about 4.5 hours and he was a patient and pleasant camper throughout. We were definitely lucky though as the lineup behind us was many times longer than the lineup in front of us at the start of the day. They ran out of vaccine today and won't be getting more til Wednesday so parents are definitely feeling a sense of urgency. The health care professionals dealing with the massive crowds were superstars and we are very thankful. To be extra cautious, I'll be keeping him home the rest of the week until his immunity has built up and I feel comfortable enough for him to be frolicking with school-aged friends and their younger siblings. For the record, I am not a fan of pandemics! Best of health to everyone!
