I'm not into fear based parenting. A section in my Parents magazine called "It Happened to Me" detailing freak incidents like a child cutting off his sibling's finger with safety scissors really pisses me off. Really? Safety Scissors? I refuse to give in to the voice in the back of my head that wants me to worry about insane things.
My little voice: See that edge on your coffee table? Imagine it imprinted in your baby's skull when she falls on it with her first steps.
Me: Shut up.
My little voice: Your child has been asleep and quiet for 45 minutes. Obviously she has suffocated herself with her My Little Pony doll.
Me: Shut up. (then I check on her anyway. Hand in front of face-- yep, still warm breath coming out.)
But now I'm worried about invisible danger. And the FDA, slow behemoth agency that it is, backs me up with this fear. Check this headline out: FDA Reviewing Plastic Ingredient BPA. The article talks about a chemical commonly used in baby bottles which is being studied because the National Toxicology Program thinks it might alter human development. Ominous sounding, right? The article goes on to discuss findings that low levels of the chemical can cause changes in behavior, the brain, and the age girls enter puberty. Thankfully, the FDA is launching their review. Read: they may possibly sometime in the next few years ban this chemical. Maybe.
And this is only the latest in the invisible attack on my children (and my health, too!) Their poor, immature livers are trying to detox the formaldehyde in their clothes, the chlorine in the pool, the off-gassing of the shower curtain and furniture, not to mention every time they ingest some child-marketed food product with dye, msg, and aspartame. And moving in to our new house we have paint fumes, new carpet, and drywall dust, too. My little voice is having a party in my head.
On the plus side, the "It Happened to Me" column seems quaint, old fashioned and charming in comparison. Heh, they're still afraid of the visible dangers. Isn't that sweet?
Musings of Motherhood
About Me
- Kellie Bonifield
- Supporting characters: Kent, husband extraordinaire with, thankfully, a wonderful set of genes including strong cheekbones and the ability to eat anything and stay slim and muscle-y which has been inherited by... Tallulah, a blond curled, angelic looking four and a half year old with a huge smile and penchant for action. She often, to my dismay, demands to be called a princess-- but only if princesses run, jump, climb trees, defend friends from bullies, and are always right. Moxie, the baby. Organized and schedule oriented, Moxie will be recieving a drool-impervious day planner for her first birthday. She is bemused by her sister's antics and often hums herself to sleep.
