I’m hearing a lot of this term being used in reference to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. People are saying over and over again that I never imagined this could happen.
I had a conversation with a co-worker today. This co-worker has 2 children one Adam’s age and one around the age of many of the victims. He’s sickened because not only does he have to teach his child about not going with strangers and other various dangers, he has to also discuss what to do if someone brings a gun to school.
I began to think that being a parent today can suck. The amount of things that we have to protect our children from is mounting and as a parent, as much as we don’t want to we have to imagine that things like this can happen and it does happen.
We have to imagine all the potential dangers in this world and prepare our children for it, as well as make sure we don’t expose them to too much and without creating a person who is afraid of doing anything. I honestly have a headache from thinking about it and then how do we let our children gain confidence and independence.
We have issues with bubble wrapped kids and helicopter parents. I don’t want Adam to be a bubble wrapped child and I do not want to be considered a helicopter parent.
I’m glad that I don’t have to have these conversations with Adam quite yet. It gives me time to think and try to decide what type of parent I want to be and what type of childhood I want Adam to have. The extent of our conversations with Adam is that the people are sad, he pouts and then gives me a hug. He’s compassionate towards the situation but I can only imagine how difficult these conversations will be when he’s older.
As parents we have to start considering things like someone bringing a gun to school, or any weapon for that matter. We have to consider situations like these. We have to take our head out of the sands and realize that this is the new reality of parenting.
