A huge thank you and a bit of waffle thrown in for good measure!

[ZGT Mummy]

It seems timely for me to post this now.

I wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you, in particular Hilary who went beyond expectations when I was at rock bottom with my feeding dramas and who is a living, breathing inspiration to me and I'm sure all of us. If it weren't for you I suspect I would have vaccinated my little girl and I would not be working on improving our nutrition in the way that I now am (work in progress though :D). I can hand-on-my-heart say that you have been a huge positive influence and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work and dedication to helping all us mums out there in need of advice and support, and not just on the vaccination issue but on many other topics too.

I'd also like to say thanks to 3monkeys who pointed me to this forum in the first place. I can't wait to get the kids in bed everynight so I can come on here and trawl through all the various threads, learning so much every time I come here!

And of course thank you to everyone else for being here and contributing and offering support and information when I need it. Without all of you forming a community where I feel safe to feel and think the way I do I don't think I would have the strength to continue this path in real life. Having said that my mother is becoming more open to a more natural way of life and healing with herbs etc. We had a funny conversation tonight. There was a programme on last night where they made remedies for things with natural herbs etc. I think he called himself an ethnobotanist??? Anyway, I saw she'd written down some things from the show so started talking to her about them. My father (step-father but has always been my dad really) said his grandmother knew all these things and I commented that it was sad we'd lost the ways of old. My mother then said her SIL regrets not learning more from her (my mother's) mother as she knew so much and treated everyone with herbal remedies. I wondered quietly to myself why my mother hadn't bothered to learn, after all it was her own mother! My uncle is a herbalist (unfortunately in Malaysia though so I can't learn from him) and he is apparently very good, so good that he cured one of his patients of some affliction and he was rewarded with a Mercedes Benz!

Anyway, I digress. I felt it hugely important to acknowledge the impact that has been made on my life, and the lives of my kids, through this forum and the people here.

The only one issue that it raises is that I vaccinated my boys to 15 months and that is causing a great deal of regret, guilt and upset within me. I've not yet figured out how to deal with the emotions that this creates.

You'll have to excuse me, I'm a bit philosophical at the moment. My biological father died on Friday and whilst we were estranged and I'm not upset about it (long story but he was not a person that will be missed - that in itself makes me sad) but I do have many thoughts and feelings that I can not place at the moment, so am languishing in my emotional soup!

[magical1]

The only one issue that it raises is that I vaccinated my boys to 15 months and that is causing a great deal of regret, guilt and upset within me. I've not yet figured out how to deal with the emotions that this creates.



What a great and open post that was.

Look I'm in the same boat with my boys and the vaccines and mistakes I made for them when they were little. However I never feel guilt or regret because now I am empowered with knowledge... that even then I probably wasn't ready for. I can give them 100% more than most parents can even imagine now.

You just have to do the best you can for them today. Which is exactly what you are doing. Afterall what you thought was the best thing to do at the time was vaccinate. Is it your fault that your practitioners didn't arm you with enough knowlege on both sides of the argument? No it isn't. I always say to people who feel guilt or regret that your best is good enough.

[Sarah]

The only one issue that it raises is that I vaccinated my boys to 15 months and that is causing a great deal of regret, guilt and upset within me. I've not yet figured out how to deal with the emotions that this creates.

I too have moments of deep regret and guilt. I vaccinated my girls until 4yrs. I think I knew deep down that what I was doing was not the best I could be doing for them, but was not emotionally strong enough for the conflict that would have arisen if I had not. When I look back there are many things I would have done very differently - My eldest is 10, and I only breastfeed her for 6 months, I shudder when I think about warming up her baby bottles in the microwave:(, it was just what you did. What gives me confidence now is the knowledge that I am learning how to give my girls the best nutrition and care. What I am also doing is educating them as well, so that they grow up knowing the right things to do. My eldest is often heard asking, when offered food at someone elses house, "does it have preservatives in it?". It often gets a very strange reaction from many parents :giggle:
Anyway, stay strong and be confident that you a now on the right track:)

[3monkeys]

Life is a journey. We grow and learn from our "mistakes". I have things that I have learned from. I dont regret them because I have learned from them. I have never vaccinated any of my children but there are other things I have learned from. I think its hard to get it "right" but as long as we keep growing and evolving as people, and taking in things that will help us do that then we must be doing ok.

Better to have lived and learned that be totally arrogant or ignorant :)

And I am glad you were able to find us here.

[justine]

Hey,

My eldest son has been vaccinated the most and my other two up to 15 months. I cant belive how blind I was back then. It makes me sigh and feel bad. None of them, however, have had the MMr which is the issue that started me on my road to empowerment. The more you learn the more u realise you don't know. Thats just the way it is.

Keep learning and know that you are not alone when u feel guilty.

Justine

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Thank you for your nice comments :o


My uncle is a herbalist (unfortunately in Malaysia though so I can't learn from him) and he is apparently very good, so good that he cured one of his patients of some affliction and he was rewarded with a Mercedes Benz! I think you can still learn from him. Sure, some plants might not be relevant here, but others might be. I'd seek information when and where I'd find it.


The only one issue that it raises is that I vaccinated my boys to 15 months and that is causing a great deal of regret, guilt and upset within me. I've not yet figured out how to deal with the emotions that this creates.You did the best with the information that you had at hand. Since there is not exactly the ability to put the clock back, you just move forward, doing the best you can, day by day.


You'll have to excuse me, I'm a bit philosophical at the moment. My biological father died on Friday and whilst we were estranged and I'm not upset about it (long story but he was not a person that will be missed - that in itself makes me sad) but I do have many thoughts and feelings that I can not place at the moment, so am languishing in my emotional soup!
emotional soup is good.

Makes you really evaluate what is important, and what is not. :hug:

[Tici]

What a lovely , lovely post ZGT Mummy :)

You should be proud of the fact that you have listened to your instincts and are more aware and open now. I reckon that takes a bit of substance in itself.

Because I'm finding that listening to your instincts and reading through the endless information is far, far harder than just going with the flow. Harder in the sense of what you cop from the 'majority' anyway.

You can't go back and change anything, but look at what you're achieving now in regards to your family's health and wellbeing. I reckon that's pretty cool !