I was flipping through my calendar the other day and saw that Mother's Day is coming up in May and made a note to send my mother something and then thought holy *%&!, I'm the Mom. Not that I hadn't realized it yet, but it struck me a little different. Now, don't get me wrong, I've have had my indoctrinations into motherhood with a 180 in my daily life, an emergency trip to the hospital, the fact that it now takes 2 hours to do what used to take an hour, and the feeling of if you hurt my child and I will beat your f******* a** (must be in the mood for cursing today). But on top of that the world looks different. Parking garages are scarier, the #7 on the bottom of Nic's bottle brought changes in how we feed him and ourselves, and unsafe drivers make me even madder now, but I react more calmly (because I have a "baby on board" - I still hate those signs - like I would hit you if you didn't have that sign).
There was a student in Chester County, SC who was planning a "Columbine style" attack at his high school, but luckily his parents called police when explosives were delivered to the house. About 2 miles from our house a teenager was shot and a woman injured when someone came to their front door and open fire when they answered. Though this didn't appear to be random, it was too close to home. If I am not up listening to Nic breathe, those things keep me awake at night.
So how do we keep our children safe in this world. I know the mothers out there have thought about this alot. I can feed him organic food from glass bottles. I can drive the biggest, most gas-guzzling SUV with him strapped into the industry recommended safety seat.
I can hope that the president we elect will bring about positive changes in our country. Of the options we have, can they ensure that Nic will have a safe place to go to school with qualified teachers who won't harm the students (because if you hurt my child I will beat your f****** a**)? Can they ensure that we/he will have access to affordable, quality health care? Can they stand firm on environmental issues so that he has a healthy world to live in when he grows up and raises his own family?
My friend Rachel posted a link to another blog that posed some good questions on politics. Check it out at http://amommystory.blogspot.com/2008/04/dear-presidential-candidates.html
Since I am about as versed at politics as I am at history, I won't embarass myself with too many details on the issues. But like everyone else, I know what I need, but I'm not sure where to get it.
But I digress from the political issue...
Off to build my plastic...ooops I mean GLASS bubble (or maybe #1 plastic) to put Nic in for the rest of his childhood.
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2 comments:
i don't know how you moms do it... i am scared of the world without having anyone to protect. 'course my friends are "tiger moms" and while this might not keep bad things from happening it does mean that nic, gibson, landis, avery, jared, jordyn, jeanie, etc are as close to having that bubble as they can. and if you ever need back up, just call!
It does change how you view the world, doesn't it? Just yesterday I was talking about how much more empathetic I am as a parent. For example, when I see the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq, I feel it in a completely different way -- Now I realize that it was someone's child. You know?
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