This is the second year the kiddo has gotten her flu shot and so far, it seems to be working.

She was not pleased at all to have to "go under the needle" (her words, not mine) for that flu shot and the HPV vaccination, but she'll thank me in the end for forcing such torture upon her. The funny thing is, she didn't even get the flu shot. She got the nasal spray. Little complainer. ...

I've gotten my flu shot for the past four or five years, and guess what I haven't gotten in that time?

The flu.

Thank goodness. I've thought about skipping it a couple of times because I didn't get sick the year before, so why bother? Then I think, "Why take chances?" And in I go for my shot.

I am miserable to be around when I'm sick. I whine. I want someone to take care of me and I want to just lie around doing absolutely nothing and feel sorry for my miserable, achy self. I'm so much of a pain to be around when I don't feel well that I don't even want to be around myself.

The kiddo is the same way. She gets to feeling under the weather and everyone around her knows exactly how she's feeling. So, not only is the vaccination for her to avoid illness, it's for my sanity and the sanity of everyone who has to be around her while she's feeling icky.

She is around hundreds of other germy kids at school all day long, five days a week, which increases the likelihood that she's going to bring something home. I don't want to be exposed to that yuckiness. Not only is she cranky when she's sick, but I feel helpless when she has a fever and is vomiting and achy and all-around wretched. I hate it when she's sick, not just because she feels bad and I can't make it all better, but because, well, she makes everyone around her miserable, too.

Of course, when she brings home the illness, she has the audacity to pass her germs around to everyone else in the house so everyone else can be just as miserable and cranky as she was. Yay! Lucky us. I advocate sharing, but there are some things that should just be kept to yourself. Flu is one of those things.

Nationwide, the flu season is already kicking into high gear and health experts are predicting it to be a bad one, with the virus coming at us hard and strong this year.

That does not bode well for all those who didn't get their flu vaccination this season. I sure hope there were plenty of other parents out there who determined that a short visit to the doctor (or the pharmacy, or the health department) to get themselves and their kids a flu vaccination was worth the time and effort. Keep those germs in check, please. I don't want them and neither does my family, thank you very much.

If you, or your children, haven't gotten the flu shot yet, please do, out of consideration of everyone else around you and for the obvious reason of avoiding a serious, miserable, icky illness.