Parents, Say No to Fear!

One of the benefits of growing up in the 70's was we only had 3 channels and the news was on at 5:30. If memory serves me correctly, the networks went off the air shortly after Carson by way of the National Anthem. I walked to school, through the woods, rode in a car without a seat belt (sometimes laying in the back window), played outside from dusk to dawn (returning home when I heard the sound of my mothers voice), and drank from the water hose on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure most of the kids in my neighborhood experienced the same way of life.

Then shortly after 9/11, we had our first child and it seemed like every aspect of life had been plunged in to fear. If I didn't immediately buy a Hummer, my family would die. I plugged every electrical outlet, bought a Nascar inspired car seat, helmets for damn near every activity known to man, and was told if I let my child out of my sight for 5 minutes, she'd be on a milk carton the following morning. I was receiving weekly emails about the dangers of food, the Internet, soda, plastic, collapsing cribs, baby food, vitamins, immunizations, flame retardant clothing, lawn darts, television, video games, shark attacks, killer bees, and Chris Hanson was on every channel showing me that every neighborhood in America had a rapist living near by...

Because I was a new parent, I was eating this stuff up, losing sleep, and turning my house in to a foam padded fortress of solitude. Then something happened, my first child lived and became a big sister. A few years later, she became a big sister to her new brother, and it dawned on me, I had been fed a lot of bullshit! I'm not dismissing all of the information provided, but a dropped Cheerio, by kid number two, wasn't responded to in the same manner as if she had dropped a live grenade in the dining room... Our front yard wasn't a valet service for child rapists and living in Missouri, I had no reason to fear sharks!

We began enjoying our children more, realizing that dirt was good for their white blood cells, and came to the realization that we could have bought Disney World with the money we spent subscribing to the fear. However, the fear police didn't let up and two new warnings have been issued. 1. putting your kids name on the back of their t-ball jersey aided child molesters in their efforts to rape your child... 2. Family decals on the back of your minivan alert criminals as to how many people live in your home...

Really? You mean to tell me, that if he/she doesn't know the child's name, they aren't interested? My response, put your kids phone number and address on the back of the jersey. Then when the piece of shit rings the doorbell, answer it with a double barrel to the mid section. As to the window stickers, again, if they think we have Chewbacca and R2-D2 living with us, then I hope they are smart enough to stay away, because that also may imply I have a light saber too...

Being a parent is an awesome responsibility, sometimes overwhelming, but the rewards are immeasurable. Subscribing to every fear issued by the 24/7 news cycle that is driven by advertising revenue (instead of reporting factual news), and watching countless hours of cable television devoted to parental horror stories is no way to live. Yes bad things can happen (and it's horrible when they do), but if you are an active participant in your child's upbringing and apply a pinch of common sense, then you can spend more time enjoying your children  and less time fearing things you have little control over, like shark attacks in Missouri...