Grandmother needs vaccine

Dear Annie: My wife is pregnant with our first child. She’s due in a few weeks and recently asked me to get a vaccine for whooping cough (Tdap). I got the vaccine.

However, now she is talking about everyone who will be around the baby getting the vaccine, including my parents. I can just imagine me telling my mom to get a whooping cough vaccine before she can hold her grandchild and her laughing maniacally in my face. I could also see her flipping out, not doing it, my wife getting upset with me and everyone being unhappy.

This is more about being stuck between my wife and my mom. I have to back my wife, but I cannot control my mom’s actions. How should I approach my mom?

Vaccinated Into a Corner

Dear Vaccinated into a Corner: Approach your mom with empathy, and then with facts. Tell her that you understand her skepticism; she never had to ask her parents to get vaccinated before they held her babies, after all. But then explain what’s changed. In the last several years, whooping cough has made a comeback. In 2012, there were around 48,000 cases, the most on record since 1955. And according to Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, “Babies who get whooping cough often catch it from family members, including grandparents, who may not even know they have whooping cough.” Visit https:// www.cdc.gov/whoopingcough for more information that might persuade her. And if she’s still not convinced, perhaps you could ask your doctor to speak with her.

Dear Annie: Last year, I sent out emails and asked each couple to bring a specific item: i.e., four sandwiches or other items.

All the couples brought huge sandwiches from a franchise and we had way too much food! We thought that they would prepare ham and cheese sandwiches or roast beef and cheese sandwiches, etc., and cut into four pieces to arrange on trays for perusal. Why is it that young people now think they have to purchase items?

Not Enough Cooks

Dear Not Enough Cooks: Instead of criticizing your family members for buying food rather than preparing it, be grateful that they brought food — and that you have leftovers. A great family activity would be to take the leftovers to a local homeless shelter or food bank.