God alone is Sovereign

1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.

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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Germs and Fall Fun!

So, I have posted before on my BLOG that I am a germaphobe. I wasn't like this before I became a heart mom. Never before Anna Grace was born would you have seen me at the playground dousing my child with hand sanitizer and threatening him with serious punishment if he even dares put his thumb in his mouth before washing his hands (yes, Zach is a thumb sucker). But, life is much different now and everywhere I look I see germs and viruses. I teeter on the verge of being "obsessive" about this. It's been difficult for me - walking the line of living "normally" and still being extremely careful of germs. As we approach cold/flu/RSV season I realize how serious these illnesses can be to a heart baby. So, what's a heart Mom to do?????

I know that every family is different and every family handles the winter differently based on their doctor's advice and their personal judgement. I eer on the side of caution (understatement), but at the same time I really do want my kids to live as "normally" as they can. So I am trying to do "normal" things with them while at the same time minimizing our risk of exposure to germs. I have found that one of the luxuries of being a stay-at-home Mom is that you can do most "normal" things with your kids on weekeday mornings - early - and things are pretty much deserted. So... all of the fun..... no lines.... and minimal exposire to other children. Hopefully next winter we can just be "normal" and not even have to try to go places at "off peak" times, but I think for this winter this is how we are going to roll.

With all that being said, I was able to take the kids to a pumpkin patch and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was a beautiful Fall day and we had lots of fun. We had even more fun because Mom wasn't dousing the children with hand sanitizer :) Enjoy the pics.

Oh... to other herat Moms out there - I'd love to hear how your family handles the winter months - or specifically how you handeled your heart baby's FIRST winter - because I know things do tend to relax a little the older your heart baby gets. Thanks for your input :)

Awww... so cute!


I'm a big kid now!


Smile :)


I just need to get to that pumpkin Mom!!!!

3 comments:

PamO said...

We avoided close contact with other children mainly for Zach's first 3 winters. We still went grocery shopping a little but I cleaned the cart up with a wipe and cleaned his hands. Last winter, the doctor told us to take him to church, AWANA, etc. and just be prepared for him to get sick. We were very blessed that he did well. Nothing much worse than the average cold that I remember. Now that he is in school, I know he's going to get stuff, but his immune system is also getting stronger.
Remember - it is only for a season. This too shall pass!
Heart hugs,
Pam

Jenn said...

I never really worried about it, but we did keep C home from church for most of flu season her first winter because we kept thinking her Glenn was just around the corner. But she got the shots for RSV, so I didn't worry about that. And last winter I didn't do anything differently because she had the flu shots and the synagis. But it's not looking like synagis will be covered for us this year, so I probably will be more protective of her this season. It stinks, but like Pam said, it's only for a season. So we'll probably switch off weeks with going to church and we'll skip play groups. Thank goodness for sermon downloads!

Kelly Potter said...

I love the picture of them together! They are so precious. That is a look at how he will be when they get older- always surrounding her, always protecting.
As far as being a germaphobe- don't stop! Handwashing is the best as you know. I carry hand sanitizer on my keychain! We still keep her out of church and away from lots of children in the winter months. Reagan has never seen an indoor playground at McDonald's or other places!
Another bad place-the doctor's offices! Our doctor even comes to our car. Get his email address or be the first one in the morning to go. I remember even having little masks on Reagan when she was somewhere that we could not avoid sickness (like the hospital).
She is gonna do great!