Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: A Simple Scratch by Lieta

Not sure if it matters/came across, but this is Clark at 5 years old pre-full invulnerability but heading that way.

Pretty cool. Also brought up some facets of Clark's childhood that I never really thought about before. How do you make the call on whether or not to let a space-foundling attend school with the regular kids?

ETA: And yes, the age and everything came across perfectly. Don't worry.

Thanks Queenie, =)

I was also squinting to myself on 'what would be anachronistic here' since this would be in 1971... I figured no band-aides, no rush to an emergency room (good news for the Kents)... but yeah...

Nice little bit of fiction. You captured Martha's reaction quite well.

At the risk of showing my age: Band-Aids (both the concept of gauze on an adhesive strip and the brand itself) were indeed around in 1971; I used my share of them then.

Joy,
Lynn

Thanks Lynn, I have to admit I was more channeling my grandpa for that. He *always* had a handkerchief and even my uncle (who would be only a few years older than Clark) still always carries one... add to that he's a rancher in rural Texas... but I also didn't want to look up dates for things for something this short even if it did pop into my head to think about dates.

Very cute. I loved Martha's reaction, too.

I just looked it up. Band Aids were invented in 1921. In 1971 I doubt they would have rushed to the ER for cat scratches on a farm unless they were very deep. There was an emergency department in my rural hometown around 1970 or 71. Before then there were not doctors who staffed the ER, just the "on call" doctors. There's a book which is probably out of print about a Vermont doctor in the 1980s. He called it "Bag Balm and Duct Tape" because so many in his rural patients would only go to the doctor if they had something that neither could treat.

Thanks for the info, that book sums up my grandparents well... though they were more the age of Clark's parents... (growing up in the 30's/40's instead of 60's/70's). Even myself as a kid, I rarely went to the doctor... though that was because my mother was a pediatric RN who worked for my pediatrician more, so she just treated us like she would tell his other patients parents to. Basically we went in if we needed a script, heh.

Cute story. I like getting glimpses of Clark's childhood and how/when his powers got noticed. I could see how this new development might cause further angst in the Kent household over where/how Clark would get his education.

As for bandaids - my kids seem to think they are fashion accessories. If one has a cut and actually needs one, her twin sister demands one as well, usually in the same place (sometimes in the same place on the opposite arm or whatever).

Thanks, I'm trying to research vaccine schedules now... found a couple people posting theirs who were born in 1966, but that leads me to another hurtle. Clark should have a DTP booster somewhere around 12 and a Measles around 8 it seems like... I kind of want Clark to be invulnerable by age 10 if I'm doing more of these, and I'm trying to see if Martha could have worked out giving him shots at home somehow or refusing vaccines entirely... I remember a story under the movieverse where the author had a Kryptonian kid registered as allergic to some egg proteins to exempt her from vaccines. But he also operated on the 7 year old having *all* the powers, they just didn't have to go through a discovery process like Clark did... (And that's Family Reunion by Mr. Beeto if anyone wants to look it up). But all I'm getting are anti-vaccine forums and nurses complaining about non-nurses giving shots it seems like...

I seem to recall that in some Superman-verse (probably in the comics somewhere), the Kents' family doctor knew at least part of the secret and helped forge adoption papers. He (as I recall, it was a man -- and given the paucity of female doctors back then, "he" is probably the correct pronoun) could also forge vaccination records.

Joy,
Lynn

I was also playing with some of my mother's suggestions (RN for 25 years before she retired). 1) regs weren't what they are today, it might have been easier to just say 'no thanks' in the '70's than it is now. 2) if you had fever following a DTP, you were scratched off the list for future ones, 3) though it's questionable practice, would a doctor let Martha take home a dose to 'give' Clark if she presented him as needle phobic... especially in an insular community like Smallville... I will also fully admit to never having read the comics, heh.

What a Husband Should Be by Sheila is one fan fiction story where the judge helped with the adoption and forged/created a birth certificate.

Egg allergy works for the viruses influenza and yellow fever because those two vaccines are grown in eggs. Tetanus vaccine a weakened version of the bacterial toxin, and not grown in eggs.

The only contraindications to tetanus toxin vaccinations would be severe allergic reactions to a previous injection. CDC Contraindications and Precautions to Commonly Used Vaccines in Adults 2016

The doctor may not have had to document the allergy to get Clark out of the injection. Simply saying he was "medically excused" may have been enough for the school system in that era. Of course in a small town the school doctor may have been the only doctor in town. He may have just have had to verify the immunizations were up to date on official forms, and not document the details.

Addendum: I'm sure you're mother is right about the regulations and reasons for deferring vaccinations then. I wasn't sure what they were, but all of those things make sense. Sorry I didn't see your post before replying.

Yeah, she's fairly sure that I could even play it with them just never taking him in to the doctor. She didn't think there were permission slips for sports and such (which the doctor she worked for at least required a well check within a year or less to sign) and in a small town like that... a parent might only take their kid in when needed and only got vaccines if they wanted them... Also, M+J might not even need any doctor's check for a birth certificate if 'the cousin' had a home birth. Funny aside, my great grandma was a home birth and they didn't get her birth certificate until a year later... and whoever filled it out put the filing year not the birth year on it. To her dying day she claimed the year on her birth certificate for her real age, heh. That was pre-WWI though.

Ouch!


This is one of those rare times Jonathan and Martha are not seen a in complete agreement. What must it have been like to raise such a unique child? A simple thing like attending school had to have given this couple not a few moments of concern. Thanks for giving us so much information with so few words.

Oh yes, Mommacat will have her way. Not even the future Superman will stop that!

Thanks Morgana, no matter how solid of a couple, I've always thought that the stress of people finding out their secret had to show at least some times.

Really enjoyed this (as I sit on our sofa with a kitty curled up in my lap purring--but thankfully seeming to avoid my keyboard...for the moment ).

I liked how much reality this story represents. So true--I can really picture a big family debate stemming from starting school. Do we send him? Do we homeschool him? The answer to that question, really, sets up how 'open' to the world Clark's life (at a younger age) will be. It's a turning point...and I can see it being a big discussion in the Kent household.

Great job!

Laura (who is amazed at the 'healing power' of band aids...you put one on--one with cute characters of course , and all again is right with a 4 year old's world)

Thanks Laura, as came out in my Cacophony thread, quite a bit of this comes from growing up with a younger brother who has Autism... and being that he hit public school in the early 90's (and in Texas, even if it is the more liberal part) *every* effort to keep him from being shunted off into a life skills class ended up being a battle for my parents =/ So even though you *know* you're going for the right choice, the stress skyrockets and tempers fray.

Hi Sara!
I’m guessing it’s Beyond the External?

Oh boy. Originally, I thought it was something about him not yet being invulnerable, but now I’m guessing one of the kittens will get nicked on Clark’s fingernails.

Yep.

Yeah, a not socialized Superman might not be a good thing.



See? He’s ready for school. Nothing extra ordinary about him.

Oops?

Michael