Germaphobes and Pigs

I am already known as a nutty germaphobe amoungst my family and friends. I'm the crazy one who uses a cart cover until my child is so big that I simply cannot lift him high enough to properly get him IN the cart. I'm also the one who carries around hand sanitizer and wipes and washes my hands and that of my toddler the second we enter the house. This is all in an attempt to keep away the ever dreaded GERM monster that is surely lurking on every store cart, door handle, and playground. And yes, we still get sick. In fact, Jake just finally got over his second cold of the season already. It traveled through our house, as most germs do. It's not as if I am a wuss when it comes to sicknesses. I've had countless flus (prior to the vaccine), colds, and even norovirus, which is THE worst of them all, by the way. And with Luke we tackled all sorts of germ monsters...you name it, he probably had it; from chicken pox, to ear infections (oh, the incessant ear infections), to stomach bugs, RSV, and the flu (despite the vaccine!). Yes, Luke's first 15 months of life were a nightmare for this germaphobe. It may have been the very thing that brought me to this point to begin with!! Even now, the memory of the horrid ear infections haunt me. Since Jake has had two pretty horrible colds, I simply expected the ear infection to come. Each night after I put him to sleep, I held my breath and waited...waited for the scream that would keep us up all night until we got our salvation--antibiotics, from his pediatrician the next morning. And even though his cold is long since gone, I still think to myself, well maybe there is still fluid in his body lurking...because many a time, Luke would appear to have no sickness at all and yet STILL have an ear infection. Thank God, though, literally....I am still just waiting.

I actually started out being a bit cavalier with Jacob. After all, he's my second child and as written above, I've been through plenty medically speaking with Luke and even Jake himself. I thought I'd be more laid back about the whole germ thing this time around. And I was. Until news of H1N1 hit. For a germaphobe such as me, there is no greater fear than to know that there is a serious disease out there that is very catchy and easy to get and is possible to die from. It is for my little ones that I fear. All you hear about is how children everyone are dying from this and they NEED to get vaccinated. Well, vaccines are scarce and our pediatrician STILL doesn't have any. Yes, I've been calling every week (sometimes more than once!). What am I supposed to do? Live in a bubble? Not very practical...not that I haven't thought about it even still... ;-)

So, here I am--second guessing myself over every sneeze, sniffle, cough, and Heaven forbid, fever and vomiting. I cope the only way I can. I overcompensate. So, if you see a crazy lady wiping down her cart with wipes and Lysol spray in the parking lot of Giant or Target, please don't stare, I do it for my own sanity or what little is left...just come on over and say hello...but only if you aren't coughing or sneezing or feeling feverish! ;-)