Hypochondria

My son is a hypochondriac. If it is suggested to him that there is a remote possibility that he could contract something from someone, he will avoid them like the plague. I suffer from chronic tension headaches, which flared up again recently. I explained to him that I have something wrong with my head that gives me headaches. He was afraid to drink my water.

So today when we intended to go outside for a little batting practice, I looked out the window to check the weather (highly scientific). I noticed that it looked particularly hazy, so I checked the PSI (air quality measurement). It was 107 - just into the unhealthy range. I mentioned that maybe we should wait a little to see if it went down. We read some books, then heard friends outside playing. The kids jumped up and ran for their swimsuits, but then Ethan asked about the current PSI. I told him I thought it looked better but he wanted to check. It had risen to 113. Under no conditions was Ethan going to go outside at that point. I went to check the mail, and he asked several times if I was planning on telling our friends to go back inside. I didn't.

Later when we went out to mail a few postcards, Ethan kept discouraging his sister from running, so as to not breathe in too much air. He plugged his nose. I pointed out that he was still breathing through his mouth. Amazingly, someone was also burning something in a trash can, adding to the poor air quality. What were they thinking?

Ethan decided we need to pray for rain, and proceeded to pray the sweetest, and quite well thought out prayer. I'm praying too - we haven't had rain for weeks. Enough already.