Last Christmas, my 4-year-old didn’t spend his evening playing with the Thor action figure or the toy helicopter that Santa left under the tree. No, my son Brandon spent Christmas night in a hospital battling the flu and pneumonia. He was there for three incredibly long days.

My husband and I stayed at his bedside, sleeping on the tiny chair in the hospital room. Actually, I didn’t sleep at all. I just lay there praying for Brandon’s recovery and scolding myself for not getting him vaccinated back in October when my 8-year-old son, Jordan, an asthmatic, received his flu shot. Why did I rush to get Jordan vaccinated but say no when their pediatrician asked if I wanted Brandon to get the shot as well?

Read more: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/hindsight-hospitals-and-why-we-got-the-flu-vaccine-this-year/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&