Monday, July 18, 2011

No such thing as overprotective.

It seems like there's so many child injury/death stories on the news. I don't know if hearing about these is GOOD for me, to give me a healthy sense of caution in potentially dangerous situations (like breathing), or if it's bad because I live in semi-paranoid fear of something awful happening to my precious munchkins. Our pediatrician in Vernal told me something I'll never forget: there's no such thing as an overprotective parent. And that the best child-proofing tool is a watchful parent's never wavering eyes. I tend to be a little more lax than most parents, I think. I'm not much of a germophobe. And I tend to let my children run around with scissors and climb on glass tabletops while eating uncut grapes and popcorn pieces near open flames. So it's probably better I hear the evening news on tv.
There's been like 9 child drowning deaths in Utah this year so far. So tragic. I can't even imagine the pain those families are going through. And several of the stories involved parents just being too inattentive near water. And while I like to think I'd never be that careless... I know it could happen to anyone. It takes just moments of distraction. Just the thought of it scares.me.to.death.


Even being at one of our favorite park locations, near a canal fully fenced off, puts me in a state of complete tension. Every time we go here and the kids want to throw leaves in the water, I make a mental plan of what to do if they fall in (even though it's pretty implausible). I picture myself hurling my body over this fence and swimming to my childrens' rescue then performing child CPR (certification expired last February).
Please never ever happen to us.
I think I'll go put them in bubble wrap now, with floatation devices attached.
Posted by Picasa

1 comment:

Sally Jackson said...

I hear ya. I always like to say. " a crying baby is better than a dead baby." when I pull my infant away from things he likes, such as cliffs and crashing waves.