Making sense of H1N1

My sons, Nicky and Joseph, had their yearly physicals last August, and once again this year, both boys got a clean bill of health. As we left the office with a printout of their vital statistics and percentiles, though, one thing occurred to us – Dr. Green hadn’t mentioned anything about a flu shot for the kids. We have always been diligent about taking care of this well before flu season, and given all the talk about the scarcity of the H1N1 vaccine, we wanted to make sure we at least had the “seasonal flu” vaccination taken care of before fall set in. The nurse at the office told us that they would contact us in a few weeks for an appointment as they didn’t have any vaccine in stock. This seemed strange, but understandable. Maybe we were just too early? So we waited.

By early October, we were getting a bit nervous that we hadn’t heard back. We started to call the office regularly. Every time the response was the same, “We’ll call you when we have doses of the vaccination.” We decided to take matters into our own hands and go to CVS or Walgreens for a flu shot. No luck. In our town, there just didn’t seem to be any seasonal flu shots available . . . not to mention the H1N1 vaccine.

With our flu shot debacle as a backdrop, we had a bit of a disconcerting experience about a week ago. My son, Joseph (4), went off to preschool with a slight cough. I had taken his temperature that morning to confirm that he was well enough to attend school. His temperature read 98.6 exactly. He seemed in high spirits and full of energy, so I gave him a little cough suppressant, kissed him goodbye and told Lina, our au pair, to keep an eye on him during the day.

At about 10:30, we got a concerned call from the nurse at Joseph’s school who reported that he had “bad cough” and his temperature read 100.0. She informed us that there had been two confirmed cases of H1N1 in Joseph’s class, so they were sending him home immediately. In addition, he would have to be kept home for four consecutive days before returning to preschool. They were strictly following CDC guidelines. Finally, she suggested that he be tested as soon as possible for H1N1.That “punch-in-the-gut” feeling of your kids in danger hit me hard. Act fast. Call Lina. Get home. Pediatrician. Tamiflu.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lina picked up Joseph from school a few minutes later. Though he was still full of energy and ready to play, Lina told us that Joseph’s cough had indeed worsened. We explained to Lina that Joseph’s school suspected that he might have H1N1, and that she should monitor him until we could get home. Trying not to panic and feeling like terrible parents for “missing” his fever that morning, we talked our way into a “sick visit” with our pediatrician. “We’re not testing children for H1N1. Keep an eye on him and if his fever doesn’t break in 48 hours call us,” droned the jaded nurse. When we insisted and stressed that there had been two confirmed cases in Joseph’s class, she reluctantly squeezed us in.

Our visit with the doctor on call was a bit unexpected. “He’s fiiiiiiine,” she said, “He just has a cold.” She felt his forehead. No fever. And our son was his usual charming and charismatic self. As we left, the doctor advised us to keep an eye on him, but to be sure to  send him to school the next day if his temperature was still normal.  Huh?

Frustrated but relieved, we are still trying to process our own brush with this pandemic and how it is being handled in our community. The cautious reaction of our son’s school makes sense. Take no chances. I don’t blame them. Our pediatrician’s policy of not testing for H1N1 is also understandable. Should every child with a sniffle be tested? Certainly not. However, the fact that our health care providers and school system are clearly not on the same page left us confused, agitated, and a bit angry. All experts stress the importance of a seasonal flu vaccination, especially for kids, yet we are not the only parents who are struggling to get one.

At Cultural Care we understand that H1N1 is of great concern to our families and our au pairs, and we are committed to providing as much information as possible to both as we head into high flu season. We have posted resources, information and tips on our intranet, InfoSource, for host families, au pairs and LCCs. This information is meant merely as a helpful resource, however, as we are not medical experts. We encourage any program participants with specific questions to speak with a healthcare provider directly.  We believe that, as family members, host parents and au pairs should establish an open dialogue as to the best way to prevent the spread of H1N1 in their home.

Our au pair did not hesitate to continue to provide great care for Joseph even when he was suspected of having H1N1. If, God forbid, our au pair were to get it, we would offer her the same care and compassion that she provided to our son.  Whether it be H1N1 or any other illness, these are concerns for the entire family and Lina is an important part of ours.  For us, ongoing discussion about how our family can stay healthy especially when faced with the confusion and uncertainty surrounding H1N1 is an important part of making the program work in our home.

From Apple to au pairs

I am a devoted Mac user, and the other day I found myself in need of a special adapter cable. So I walked over to the Apple store not too far from my office during my lunch break. A visit to the Apple store for me is like a visit to Toys ‘R Us for my boys. I just love it. Many cool things to look at, try out, and yes of course, to buy. My most recent experience did not disappoint me. I was treated to the same attentive and high quality service that I have come to expect there. I ended up buying the cable I needed and spent about $50 total by the time I left.

Transition to success

Some people are surprised to learn that my family’s six au pairs have all been “in-country transfer” au pairs. That is, they have all come to our home after a short time as an au pair with another family. The truth is, we have found many benefits to welcoming au pairs that are already in the United States: 1) We have met each of them in person before inviting them to join our family. 2) It generally takes less time from finalizing our match to our au pair’s arrival in our home (sometimes as little as a week.) 3) We have had the option to consider au pairs with different lengths of time remaining on their visas—which often works better with our personal schedules. For these and many other reasons, host parents are discovering that “in-country transfers” are a good option. For us, they just work out.

A truly dynamic duo

 

Local Childcare Coordinators, Dave and Donna Barr

I met Dave and Donna 8 years ago when I joined Cultural Care. Their kids are pretty much grown up now, but they hosted au pairs for over 10 years to help care for their two children. I see Dave and Donna regularly and speak with them periodically on the phone. Our relationship started as a professional one but has grown into a relationship that I value. They offer me parenting advice, follow the progress of my kids, and regularly invite my family to visit them at their home just next to New York City.

Welcome to the Cultural Care online community!

 

We are happy to announce an innovative on-line resource for host families, the Cultural Care Community. On our new site, families can ask a question, share an idea or “best practice” they use with their au pair, report a problem they are having or give praise. Cultural Care staff, LCCs and other host families can help answer your questions and join in the discussion. This new community is not meant to replace the customer service structure and systems that we already have in place, but rather to give host families a public forum to share with us and to connect with other families. In a little over a month, over 100 people have joined our community. We hope to welcome you soon. Visit http://community.culturalcare.com, join the conversation and let us know what you think!

We’re listening

Members of Cultural Care’s management team hold informal meetings with host families around the country.

Attending host family or au pair events always energizes me. I come back to the office with ideas on improving the program, a renewed understanding of the perspective of our customers, and affirmation on what we are doing right. About a month ago, I spent a week meeting informally with groups of Cultural Care host families. Through a series of “wine and cheese” events held at LCCs homes around Washington, D.C. and in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to meet over 200 of our families in person. I want to thank the Cultural Care families who took the time to come out to meet the members of our management team. We appreciate your feedback!

At Cultural Care, we gather customer feedback in multiple ways.

It’s about my kids, too.

Two of our former au pairs, Sandra and Kathrin, returned to visit our family in December of 2007

Our match is final and our new au pair arrives next Friday. A flood of familiar emotions rushes back:  sad to say goodbye, excited to meet a new friend, overwhelmed to start from scratch, refreshed to turn the page – to name a few. The milestone of completing another year with an au pair always gets us wondering. Should we continue with the au pair program? After all, our kids will be in school almost full time this fall.