Captain Mommy is losing her mind

oh the illness we've had in our family.

As I told curb girl yesterday, our family is a current walking poster family for birth control, or rather, locking your kids up until they're five and not letting them interact with anyone and bring scary diseases into your house. double ear infections for both children--loverly. It's so fun to try to figure out what's wrong with a 10 month old who doesn't talk but only screams in pain. And the helpful doctors give antibiotics and he gets an ear infection on top of the antibiotics. Poor little guy is on his second full round in five weeks, with a trial of a different one in between.

His sister, whom I suspect is the culprit in bringing Coxsackie or whatever the hell this is into our usually happy home, also has a double ear infection. I have been on the losing end of a sore throat and earache for several weeks and I am currently doing my time in the medical world of drugs as well. Now all we need is for DH to come down with it and it will have run its course. Of course, the World Cup is on, so he would have a perfect excuse to stay home from work to watch it. So far, knock on loads of wood, he is well. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop this weekend.

Packing. Amid boxes. Storage. We have way too much crap. I am as guilty as the rest of the family. Since we haven't yet ruled out the possibility of a third child (although I am leaning towards NO!--see above paragraph about poster family for birth control), I am hesitant to part with so much baby paraphernalia that has found its way into our home. I have tried offering it to my one friend who is pregnant with her first child but she doesn't want it. I have considered selling it to the local baby resale shop, but I know I won't get anything for it. I have thought of donating it. That looks to be the best option. But then if we do have another munchkin, we just have to buy new stuff. Or borrow from our friends, all of whom seem to be finished having children and are in the process of getting rid of their stuff as well. That was a quick age-shift (from having kids to being done with having kids), if you ask me.

And then there are the books. And the toys. And, if you are my husband, the 100s of soccer videos, DVDs, programs, books, bobbleheads, pins and other assorted crap that has "magically" found its way into our home. He will have to rent a separate storage unit just for his "collectibles." Have I mentioned the three full-sized arcade games in the basement? How about the preschool table and six chairs that we just "had to take" when one of the local preschools closed? We have more furniture than we have room for and every time I try to get rid of something, I hear "but it might be worth something."

And he keeps buying. I cringe every time I know he has been to the dollar store, wondering what other crap he will bring into our already overstuffed home. He likes to give our kids presents. How about the present of time? I spent an hour outside playing pirate adventures--"Captain Mommy, let's go search for treasure!"--and working rudimentary soccer drills with my three year old last night, which DH sat on the couch and watched World Cup that he had DVRed. I guarantee that she valued the time I spent with her more than the piece of plastic toy or the 29th puppet he bought the last time he went to Deals. And Rabbi Shmuely (from Shalom in the Home, another program he felt the need to DVR and subsequently watch last night) would agree with me.

On an entirely different note, does anyone out there in cyberland know how to set up a sub-blog on a blog? I have another series of stuff I'd like to post but it doesn't go with the mish-mash of this blog. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

If you haven't read Doxie's blog-book about bathing her dogs, you absolutely MUST. I cried. Fortunately, Leigh, whom I've never met but who I feel I now know intimately, is working on making publishing connections. Maybe she can hook me up!