It’s time to clean house
It’s springtime, the time to clean house, and as I prepare to take charge of my home, I can’t help but think of the latest challenges which American families face, like the leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, shortages of baby formula or the Food and Drug Administration hinting they’ll grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer and Moderna’s MRNA investigational vaccines for our youngest children.
The bucket fills with soapy water and I face the tedious task of cleaning the windows. Opening the first sash to see what I’m up against, I bend to dunk the cloth, wondering why suddenly many mothers can’t find formula for their infants.
Sliding the double- hung upward shows a build-up of grime since the fall. A dusty mix of pollen, dead bugs and pollution. It will take some time to clear them, but the care and maintenance is worth the long-term result. I open a tiny repair kit to mend the tear in the screen. As well, parents must care for and protect their children and they must be able to trust that their pediatricians are doing the difficult work of understanding all the data in order to care for and protect their youngest patients.
I bump the bucket on the floor and water sloshes. After regaining my balance, the pail goes into a safer spot in the sink.
Doctors, in much the same way, are there to guide parents through the best practices of making sensible decisions about a child’s health, including which vaccines are necessary. I wipe the stuck husks of a few flies out from under the screen. They tumble into the yard below.
Once more, the wet cloth is drawn along the window sill, until it is clear of gray residue. Wide open, the air will now travel freely, fresh and clean. The cleaning is one small act and the decision to do so is one of many that I can do to help keep my children healthier and happier. I expect the same approach from my grandchildren’s pediatricians.
As parents who love our children and want them to be happy and healthy, we expect the experts on the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will do only what is in the interest of our youngest American children’s well-being as they seriously consider the efficacy and safety of the pharmaceutical industry’s product before they give a green light. We want them to be diligent. We want them to do their homework. We want them to scrutinize, to require the highest standard of efficacy from these drug companies, which haven’t been as transparent as we’d expect them to be.
Spraying the window fills the room with vinegar and I work the towel against the glass until the panes are squeaky clean.
I hope the VRBPAC will look closely at these drug companies. I hope they will see how politics plays no role in their decision. I have faith they will put our children first, and will view what could be a corporate decision as the decision it is, one made on behalf of our most innocent children.
We understand that the members of VRBPAC, esteemed experts and health-care professionals, will uphold their Hippocratic oaths to do no harm. They are the most trusted members of society, our children’s pediatricians, our family doctors, our scientists and researchers whose life’s work means protecting the public and the patients that they honestly serve.
The dignified work of American parents who daily teach their kids what it means to be responsible, why telling the truth might sometimes be the hardest thing to do, but is nevertheless the best thing to do; and how every action a person takes has a consequence to go with it. Parents must be thoughtful as they make the best decisions for their kids and they expect their pediatricians, health experts, and leaders they elect to behave the same way.
The stack- on laundry in the powder room, where I’ve begun my cleaning-house journey, poses a challenge of negotiating tight spaces, and just when I think I’m finished with that first, small room, I’m surprised to catch a fuzzy film of lint on the floor inbetween the toilet, the sink and washer. The light shines brightly through the newly cleaned window revealing more work has to be done.
Parents know in their hearts that anything worthwhile takes time and thoughtful effort. I dunk the cloth, wring it out over the sink, and continue clearing away the sticky cobwebs, one mopping at a time.