I Have a Problem.

I'm a worrier. And I hate it. I worry about everything. A typical day for me includes a solid 1-2 hours of worrying (by my best estimate). Arsen has a great solution for me: Stop Worrying. But for some reason that doesn't seem to work.

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When I'm at work, and we've left Addie home for the day, I sit there and worry about her. I worry about the house catching on fire and her being trapped inside with no way out. I worry about someone breaking in and dognapping her. I worry about her choking on something. Worry worry worry.

When Arsen is gone, I worry. Just about all the millions of things that could go wrong. And if he doesn't answer his phone? Good Lord, the world is coming to an end! All I can think about are car wrecks, muggings, random shootings....it's never ending.

I spilled some dry fettuccine on the floor last weekend, and Addie took off with a piece. By the time I got to her, she had already eaten the entire thing. I didn't think much about it, but an hour or so later when I was on the elliptical at the gym I started thinking....couldn't that be dangerous? That pasta is hard, and sharp when broken. What if it lodged in one of her organs and she was slowly bleeding to death? I started googling "my dog ate dried pasta" and similar things, and one result said emergency surgery could be necessary. Google is a dangerous weapon for a girl like me. By the time we left I insisted we needed to go home to check on her before we ran the rest of our errands. Arsen was not pleased.

I need to find a way to get past the worry, because I can only IMAGINE how much worse this will get with children. I don't want to be the girl who is paranoid throughout my pregnancy, and then worries every day of my kids lives. I'll lose my mind!

This is what brought on this post today:

As soon as I noticed her sad little loose tooth, I started panicking slightly. Her teeth are one of her cutest features! They're so crooked and teeny tiny, and I can't imagine her without them. Then she won't look like a cute puppy, she'll look like an older dog. And this started me on the path of Addie getting older....and soon I'm on the verge of tears. I know, I'm ridiculous! I just can't help myself.

You can tell by Arsen's reaction in the above example what he thinks of my insanity. Not impressed. And probably quite tired of dealing with it. I get upset when he doesn't validate my feelings and tell me that yes, I have every reason to be freaking out about whatever random thing is freaking me out, but....it's not like I can blame him.

Anybody have any suggestions or miracle cures? Am I the only crazy person who deals with this? Seriously, it's a problem.