Enough already.

When news writers raise alarms about biological warfare, viruses let loose accidentally by the CDC, bird flu, patches of black ice on the road, deadly strains of influenza, et al, my mom-sense goes into hyper-drive. Crohn's Disease and Remicade are a double handicap in the resistance game. While we're fighting to keep A's colon intact, Remicade is suppressing his immune system so it won't attack the colon . . . or any other disease, infection, etc. that happens to come along.

I want to stay home with my kids. Of course that's not realistic. I well understand the importance of preparing them for living with and in the world. I also understand that alarmist writing increases readership and ratings. But it doesn't stop me from enjoying snow days and stormy weather when we have no choice but to stay home.

There's an inordinate glee underlining doom-and-gloom news "reporting." Now that we're afraid of everything, narcissism rules the day. Don't tell us what to do. But SOMEONE should take care of all the bad stuff so we don't have to deal with it.

Enough already. There are enough real-life challenges. The stomach flu is waiting for the kids to get back to school so it can roar through families all over again. Life-changing illnesses are going to turn future plans upside down. The roof will leak and car break down when we can least afford the repairs.

And people will surprise you with kindness. 300 friends and neighbors will line the streets to welcome home a young mom recovering from months of physical rehabilitation. They'll let you in a long line of rush hour traffic and NOT bang the horn because your attention drifted for a moment when the light turned green. They'll see some broken glass in a picnic area and pick it up. They'll bring you an heirloom tomato plant just because they have extra and share the first crop of green beans from the backyard garden. They'll show up for volunteer workdays at church and the Nature Center and school and will value the results of their labors rather than the accolades.

Those kinds of stories don't sell newspapers or ad space for newscasts.

But they make living in Dunwoody all the nicer.