I'm officially scared

I have developed a big concern about Swine Flu. It has hit our county, and one of the trainers at Curves (who is also a high school teacher) has it now. We are not afraid of Curves--the manager is a neat freak and has sanitized the heck out of the place, and I didn't actually come into contact with that trainer at all last week. But I have decreed that Dennis will not be going into Wal-Mart with me for a while. We have taken away the pacifier and he doesn't even miss it now, but those fingers are always finding their way into his mouth. We tried Winn Dixie with a shopping cart handle cover (that Winn Dixie had actually sent to me as one of the Baby Club gifts--sign up for this free service if you haven't--it's great!), but he was more interested in ripping the cover off or moving it around, and he grabbed all over the cart. I've never been very germ-phobic (and due to that usually get sick at least one good time every fall/winter), but this year I'm afraid for Dennis. He'll get his regular flu shot in a week and a half (when the pediatrician gets more in stock), and if we get a swine flu vaccine made available, he'll have that, too. David and I will get flu shots within the week. There are lots of fall activities I want us to do, but I may be limiting those to outdoor things, hoping to keep him flu-free. I sure do love that little guy, and while I don't think it could be fatal to him, it is possible. Mostly, I just don't want him to suffer any sickness at all.

That said, I tried to keep him in the car while we ran errands today, but his friends from Ace Hardware missed him (this is not a place I'm overly concerned about, anyway, and I had said as much to David). Mr. J.T. came to the car to visit, which Dennis loved, and then he told me "I want to go in and say hello" (a very good sentence for him). So we went in to say hello, and I discovered that "I want to go in and say hello" really means 'I want to go in so Mr. J.T. will give me popcorn', and he did, and everyone was happy. But I'm going to try my best to keep him out of Wal-Mart, and I might have to keep the family pharmacist quarantined! So scary, this stuff.

We are at the lake house, and Dennis just grabbed my wallet. I have only been a wallet owner for a week now, and it's nice to finally get my money (what little there is of it) organized. Dennis was rifling through it and grabbed my debit card. He said "Mommy's wallet--here you go, Mommy" but kept the debit card. I said "that's Mommy's debit card, too, give it back please" and he said "No, it's MY debit card, you don't need it" and he ran off with it. I gave chase, of course. And I am currently again in possession of my debit card, but I wonder how he knew that the debit card was the thing in my wallet that has the most value...