As Spring approaches, I start thinking about planting stuff. But I also think about allergies. Luckily, no one in our family has serious allergies, and no one has asthma. I have never even held an inhaler in my hands, and for that I feel fortunate. But for many people in this country, asthma is a daily life or death struggle. Nearly 6 million of these people are children. And children under four are increasingly affected, as asthma rates among this age group more than doubled over the last twenty years. Our children should not have asthma at the rate that they do, so many of the cases are caused by man-made pollution.
The little girl in the cartoon has asthma, and she is aware of the triggers that might bring on an attack. The little girl also thinks she’s smarter than her mother, and can trick her into not eating her broccoli. But like all moms, her mother is hyper-aware of the dangers that concern her child. Asthma should not be one of them, we can change that. We can’t–and shouldn’t–change little girl spunk.