I fit into the paranoid group. I know kids need to get their fill of germs yadda, yadda,.... I know I should not be a fanatic. BUT it is my mother's instinct to be this way. As a matter of fact it is one of the biggest obstacles I am working on. Not only being paranoid about germs, but freaking out when she DOES get sick. I am not so bad in the summertime. My daughter catching some germ is in the back of my mind in the summer, in the winter it is "in my face". Sending her to school in a couple of years makes me sick to my stomach with worry. Some in my family almost patronizes me and say that if I had another child it, I wouldn't have time to worry about that stuff. Yes, I believe another child would pull time from another and perhaps double the worry, but the worry for my daughter would always be there. I was truly born a worry-wart. I can't help it. Everyone here must see through my posts that I am very reliant on God. Prayer helps me to calm down and take appropriate actions when she gets sick. I won't post my religion because I don't believe it is important.Whether your Jewish or Christian, if it gets you through the obstacles in your life, than that is the religion that works best for you. Before I had this board God was all I had to get me through the sick nights and days. It is my only way to cope. When my daughter gets sick my mind immediately goes to what if I don't treat this sickness the right way, what if........So I don't think it is the actual germ itself I am worried about, it is what it could bring. I have been calmer since she is older and can actually tell me when she is not feeing well. As an infant it was quite tricky. And Roberta, I don't blame you in the least for being paranoid about exposing your child to germs after suffering your great loss. You are one of the people I do think of when my child gets ill. The worry when you child gets sick has to be mulitplied by a thousand from my worry.

Like I said it is something I am working on. I don't show the paranoid side to my daughter, although children are quite perceptive. I do show her good hygiene. We carry a bottle of hand gel where ever we go. No drinking fountains either. (that was always my mother's rule growing up anyway) We were always a very germ free family growing up. You should see me manuver a potty break in a public rest room. You would think I was going to do surgery.