Proactive Steps to Calm Parenting Fears

MOTHER CHILD SEPARATION

Jemma and I have discussed many times how we stay safe in public places. It is her goal to always be able to see me. When I call for her, she is to immediately answer, “Here I am!”. If she can’t find me, she waits where she is and watches for another mommy to ask for help. We’ve also talked about asking a worker to page me, hence Jemma has learned my full name. Next up, we are practicing my phone number.

With Max, more of my fear lies in who would care for him if I was in the hospital or unable to be with him. He is super attached to me and we’ve yet to be separated for more than 6 hours … which was only once so far. We have a plan in place of who would tend to him at night and if he needed, where we would obtain breast milk to comfort him. 

WATER SAFETY

Jemma is starting swim lessons next month, so right now all of our water safety has revolved around being safe in the bath. We practice sitting on our bottom so we don’t fall and most recently Jemma has learned how to pull the plug and drain the water by herself.

CAR ACCIDENTS

Uh … car accidents are my nemesis. I researched car seats like crazy and have been nothing more than pleased with our Diono Radian. They have a steel frame which makes them extremely safe and durable. They’ve even been coined the “orphan seat” thanks to children surviving in otherwise fatal accidents – awful, but safe. In the case that I’m unable to speak or help in an accident, I created information tags for Jemma and Max’s seats so emergency workers would have pertinent information about them. I included …

I added an out of state contact because we’re in earthquake country and sometimes in bad earthquakes all the local lines get tied up. The favorites is where I listed their favorite color, character, song, etc. A bit of information that might calm them down if they felt scared.

*** Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting! Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants (list will be final around 5pm PST February 11):

• When Parents’ Fears Escalate — If we didn’t self-doubt, we probably wouldn’t care enough about our children to struggle with understanding them. But how do we overcome self-doubt? Read advice from Laurie Hollman, Ph.D., guest posting today at Natural Parents Network.
• What ifs of addiction — After seeing how addictions of adult children is badly hurting a family close to her heart, Hannah at HannahandHorn shares her fears for her own child.
• Sharing My Joy — Kellie at Our Mindful Life shares her fear that others think she is judgmental because she makes alternative choices for her own family.
• Building My Tribe Fearlessly — A meteorite hit Jaye Anne at Tribal Mama’s family when she was seven years old. Read the story, how she feels about that now, and how she is building her tribe fearlessly.
• Fear: Realized — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen shares how her fear of car accidents was realized and how she hopes to be able to use her efforts to overcome the remaining fears to help her children overcome their own.
• I’m a Negligent Helicopter Parent — For Issa Waters at LoveLiveGrow, the line between helicopter parenting and negligent parenting is not so cut and dried.
• My Greatest Fear For My Child — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama admits that she has struggled with not allowing her fears to control her and how the reality of this was blown wide open when she became a mother.
• Proactive Steps to Calm Parenting Fears — Every parent has certain fears related to dangerous situations, That Mama Gretchen shares ways she is preparing herself and her children for emergencies.
• Homeschooling Fears – Will My Children Regret Being Homeschooled? — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares an interview with her now-adult children that answers a question she had throughout their homeschooling.
• An Uneasy Truce — Homeschooler and recent convert to unschooling, Tam at tinsenpup shares just a few of the things she tries to keep in mind when fear and insecurity begin to take hold.
• Fearing the worst, expecting the best — Tarana at Sand In My Toes writes about fears that come with parenting, and why we must overcome them.
• Can I be the parent I want to be? — Amanda at Postilius confronts her struggle to peacefully parent a preschooler
• Out of Mind, Out of Fear — How does Jorje of Momma Jorje deal with her pretty steep, long-term fears regarding her son’s future?
• I Don’t Homeschool to Manage My Kids’ Transcripts — One of Dionna at Code Name: Mama’s fears of parenting is that she will get so caught up in the monotony, the details of homeschooling, the minutiae of everyday life, the routine of taking care of a household – that she will forget to actually be present in the moment with her children.
• Beware! Single Mom Camping — Erica at ChildOrganics shares her first adventures as a single mom. She laughed, she cried, she faced her fears.
• Parenting Fears And Reality Checks — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares her three biggest fears as a parent – that most parents share – looks at the reality behind these fears, and offers a few suggestions for enjoying parenting.
• Parenting fear : to kill a pink rabbit… — Mother Goutte tells us the story of a pink rabbit that disappeared, came back, and became the symbol of her worst parenting fear…
• Roaming — sustainablemum considers whether allowing your children freedom to explore the world safely is harder now than in the past.
• Meeting my parenting fears head-on — Lauren at Hobo Mama had many fears before she became a parent. Learn how they all came true — and weren’t anywhere near as scary as she’d thought.
• Don’t fear the tears — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger worried that letting her children cry when going to sleep was tantamount to the dreaded parenting moniker, CIO. She discusses what actually happened after those teary nights, and how she hopes these lessons can carry forward to future parenting opportunities.
• Will I Still be a Good Mom? — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot worries about her mothering skills now that breastfeeding is no longer the top priority.
• Pregnancy Fears: It Happened to My Sisters, It Will Happen to Me… — Kristen at Baby Giveaways Galore discusses the difficulties with pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding that the women in her family have had and how she overcame them.
• Fears — Meegs at A New Day talks about how her fears before parenting led to a better understanding of herself and her desires for her daughter.