Bring the exersaucer in the bathroom, or position it right outside the bathroom door, if it won't fit in the bathroom, proper. Take your shower. Let her yell. She won't die. She might even enjoy the change of scenery.

Your world will look better after the shower.

Also, odds are someone (*cough*possibly Annabel*cough*) pressed some stupid button on the TV, or one of the remotes, and you'll figure out your TV, after you've showered and had something to eat.

OK, I can reach the power strip itself, but without moving the entertainment center (way too heavy for one person with a bad back), I can't tell which cord is which. If I accidentally unplug the Tivo or the cable box while figuring out which is the TV, will that cause any problems that will take DH as the tech-savvy member of the household more than 5 minutes to fix when he comes home tonight?

Sorry I freaked out like that. I just got a little overwhelmed there, with everything going wrong at once, it seemed like. I'm still terrified that the TV is broken beyond repair, but I'm feeling a little less like it's my fault and that I deserve it for so screwing up my life. I do, however, wonder if I'm insane for getting so upset.

Annabel isn't screaming anymore. She's playing quietly in her playpen.

Ok...I have showered. Now I'm exhausted, and the prospect of going to work is a little overwhelming. I haven't been out of the house for three hours (except for Sunday when I went to my parents...and I napped the whole time I was there) in almost two weeks. Blech. I'll take my energy back any day now. At least I'm not crying. Not yet, anyway...

I think a shower is in order for me, too. We're getting thunderstorms today and there won't be any playing outside. That has been the best part of the summer.

{{{vw}}} Much energy~ma to you.

I called the shelter and Gimlet hasn't had a FeLeu shot...and she's behind on her distemper and rabies.

Great.

Am I crazy? Normal people don't stress out like this, do they? Or do I just need better coping skills, maybe to go back and look at my generalized anxiety disorder worksheets again?

Am I crazy? Normal people don't stress out like this, do they? Or do I just need better coping skills, maybe to go back and look at my generalized anxiety disorder worksheets again?

You're not crazy. You probably do need to revisit your worksheet though. Babies make for chaos. Susan loves control. When no control is in sight, stress will occur.

Susan, you're not a bit crazy, you just tend to overreact to unforeseen glitches. You are human being and life is messy, darling--there are ALWAYS going to be unforeseen glitches. You seem to go right to worst case scenario every time something goes wrong, and you don't need to--you are a great mom, you have a nice place to live, a husband who loves you, you are all three healthy--all the important stuff is going smoothly. Your big emotional reactions are not insane, they're just a coping mechanism that doesn't work for you very well and you will need to find a new one, that's all.