TMI.

I love this post. I identify with this post from the NY Times' Motherlode blog. And, just like the post's author, I Google everything -- especially symptoms of sickness -- but will never learn. Googling is a bad idea. For every innocuous illness, there are twenty death sentences. Because of that, Google is going to give me an ulcer which I'll then Google for symptoms, treatments and remedies until I give myself another ulcer. It's a vicious cycle.

Whenever the kids get sick, I go through the same routine. I take their temp. I ask them what hurts. I take a flashlight and shine it down their throats. Then, in a hopeful voice, I ask them if they can still go to school. When reality finally sets in and I admit the kids are sick and my hopes of making the gym have just been jettisoned, I go for Google. I type in symptoms and inhale every word the search engine spits back. Then, armed with way too much information, I take the kids to the doctor's office, ready to challenge any diagnosis the way-smart white-coat wearer offers.

"It's a virus."

"But, doctor, how can you be sure it's not a strain of the monkeypox virus spread by rodents only found in the rainforests of western and central Africa?"

Who needs med school when you've got Google?