Paranoia?

I'm a bit of a germaphobic, though nothing Monk-like. I wash my hands often, I don't touch bathroom door handles. If it's one of those public bathrooms with an air dryer and no towels and the door has a handle, I've been known to stand there until someone else comes in, just so I don't have to touch the door .Having a three-year old means I'm in a lot of public bathrooms. I'm always screeching "don't touch anything!"

I use anti-bacterial wipes or gel to wipe down the tabletops in front of my children if we're out to eat, knowing they're going to eat off the table. I wipe down the handles on the shopping carts because my son apparently thinks that those things are damn tasty and I can't stop him from licking it if I've forgotten my cart-seat cover thingie.

We wash our hands when we come home from the store, before we eat, after we've been outside. I wash my kids' hands A LOT.

Recently, everyone in the known universe is sick. Some with mild colds, bad colds and coughs (like my poor husband). Some people's children have one flu or the other, and without any vaccines available in our area, there's really nothing I can do.

Because of this, I think I've stepped my germ-a-phobia up a notch, and I'm not sure it's entire healthy or necessary. I used to take the kids to the gym with me in the mornings twice a week and while I'd take an aerobics class, they'd play in the large daycare and interact with other kids. But now, knowing how gross kids are and how everyone has been sick, I've stopped taking them there, wanting to limit their exposure as much as possible during this cold/flu season.

But if I keep them away for the entire season, it means months of me missing my gym classes and them missing out on an activity they enjoy. BUT if I do take them and they get sick, that's time off from work, poor sick babies, dayhome money wasted, holidays and parties missed out on.

Part of me thinks I'm being reasonable because no one wants their kids to be sick if it's avoidable and the other part thinks I'm being crazy, that I can't have my kids at home all the time for the next five months or not take them to places. I also know that some exposure is actually GOOD for their immune systems. And yet, I can't help but cringe at the thought of them putting a toy in their mouth that Sally Snotface just snotted on, ya know?

Today, we have a well visit at our pediatrician for Sawyer. I'm actually thinking of ways I can avoid him having to touch anything. Normally, since he's ambulatory, I just walk with him up to the office, but knowing the cesspool of the pediatrician's office this time of year, I plan on putting him in his stroller and only letting him out when it's time for him to be examined. And afterward, I plan on a Hazmat shower for both of us. See? I'm crazy. Right? Or am I?

It's not even the dreaded H1N1 or any illness in particular I'm afraid of. Sick kids just blow. We miss work. They feel like hell. Then, almost inevitable, one or both of the parents get sick and then it REALLY blows. It's no fun for anyone and I want to take every step imaginable to avoid it but part of me thinks I'm going too far and need to stop myself from letting paranoia take over before I become a full blown nutcase.

Are any of you as paranoid as me about their kids getting sick?