Winter, you made me crazy. No, really….

I am ready for spring. However, no one could be more ready than my family. All this cold weather has forced mom to spend a little too much time indoors avoiding germs and viruses that breed this time of year. Let me clarify, I’m not a germaphobe… it’s just my daughter’s asthma.

She’s one of those “lucky” souls who have the trifecta of asthma, eczema, and allergies. We have everything under control most days (no rashes, wheezes, or hives), unless she gets a cold. At which point her breathing starts to sound more like a 78 year-old smoker with emphysema. One time she even got croup and an asthma flare at the same time- which meant she sounded more like a 98 year-old smoker with one lung, emphysema, and a broken squeak toy in her throat.

These episodes are usually resolved with steroids. Our pharmacist friend kindly told us that oral steroids are like psychotic drugs to toddlers. She wasn’t kidding.

This year, I was determined to skip the demonic cold. This has meant limiting her exposure to germs, which has meant, we stay home… A LOT. Since the snow began to fly last Christmas, I have organized, re-organized and ultra-organized every closet, drawer and cabinet in the house. (It was not cold enough for me to venture into the basement… that place could still be featured in an episode of “Hoarders.” Actually, I wish it would be featured on “Hoarders,” that would mean someone else would be in charge of cleaning it.)

I hit rock bottom the week I ordered the Miracle Folder from Amazon and proceeded to re-fold everything from t-shirts to table cloths. My family officially started an intervention when I began taking photos of the beautifully folded laundry and sending them to my friend. (If you don’t know what a Miracle Folder is, let me explain. It’s a plastic infomercial device, about the size of a piece of poster board. It works as a template for folding things so that they end up in a uniform size.) If you think this sounds extreme, you would be correct. If you think it sounds awesome, you would also be correct.

I remember seeing misaligned clothing in the closet and almost losing it! I accused my husband (the rogue folder), “It’s like you’re not even trying to use the Miracle Folder!” I believe he responded by saying something like, “The miracle what now?” And then I realized it. I’ve gone crazy.

It’s hard to maintain this level of ultimate organization when no one else living in the house is on-board. In fact, the only other member of the household as excited about the Miracle Folder as I am is my 4-year-old asthmatic.

She loves to play Fold-the-Clothes. I say “play” because after what looks like a mixture of karate-chops and Whack-a-Mole, the clothes actually looked better piled in the laundry basket than after she “folded” them… I can’t win.

So it has come to this: “Hello everyone, my name is Misse, (“Hello, Misse.”) I really need the weather to warm up so I can go outside and turn off my winter-induced-organizing-OCD.”

It’s asthma versus OCD. Steroid treatment versus the Miracle Folder. Family peace versus an organized closet.

Next year, I think we might have to risk it and just buy more hand sanitizer.