Knock On Wood

I don't consider myself overly superstitious. For the most part, I don't subscribe to that garbage at all. (No rabbit-foot toting, same-sock wearing, lucky pencil using goes on at my house.) But I do knock on wood. You know, when you say something like "No one in our family has ever had cancer," you have to follow it with "Knock on wood," and an actual knock on actual wood. And it has to be real wood, not pseudo wood, particle board, etc. In the first place, I try not to say things like that out loud, or think them for that matter. I hardly ever say "It's been months since Jillian's had a tantrum at bedtime" because I know that as soon as I say it - a huge tantrum is on the way. But when those things do slip out, I'm all about knocking on wood to ward away the bad luck. Silly right? Or so I thought. Anyway, sometime last week Mark and I were talking about the kids being healthy, minimal trips to the pediatrician this year, finally having great health insurance yet we really haven't had to use. (I cower to even type the conversation, as not to curse ourselves again.) Then the thought crept into my head, "I need to knock on wood," but I didn't. SO - what happened?! Fourth of July, Karigan wakes up from her nap with a fever. She had been unusually fussy the night before. I took her to the doctor on Saturday. I just knew she had an ear infection, but nope, her ears were clear. It was ruled a sinus infection with some postnasal drip causing minor throat irritation. After 48 hours of constant crying only quieted by constant nursing (and, trust me, that only goes so far), we were in the ER at 3:30 Tuesday morning. And to think this all could have been avoided by knocking on wood, well perhaps. Nevertheless, my faith in knocking on wood has been reaffirmed and I'm recommitted to the cause.

So. I know I'm not the only semi-superstitious one, right? What do you do? Toss salt over your shoulder when you're cooking? Or are you a wood knocker? Fortune cookie fortune saver? Go ahead, tell us. No one will think less of you.