Before having a kid I refused to watch the news. There was no reason for me to hear about rape and murder. It scares me. Now, I have a son and I want to watch the news even less. Its a scary world out there and I think if I watched it all unfold on tv that I would refuse to let go of my sons hand…EVER! And that can’t be healthy. I have to wonder how or any parent can watch or read the news and still leave their house each day?? What’s the point?

Any time I turn on the news by mistake there is some child getting shot, stolen, or dying somehow. Even things I didn’t know I had to be worried about, I find myself being scared of. My son is now walking and wants to test his boundaries. In the malls he wants to let go of my hand and walk on his own. A normal person would give their son the space he needs, but me….I find myself holding on to his hand tighter. Why? Because I envision some scary person swooping in and stealing him away from me. Crazy? Probably….but with all the crazies out there my fears may be warranted!

Even when I am able to dodge the news others like to tell me about all the scary things. I speak to my dad the other day and he tells me about this mother in Texas who was going to her 3 day postpartum appointment only to have her baby snatched by a crazy women. He then goes on to tell me that as she fights for her child she gets shot 7 times and dies. Who needs to know this? So not only do I have to be worried about my son walking ahead of me, I now have to worry about him in my arms!

Grey’s anatomy the other day was about a little girl of 6 who got abducted when her mom was talking to a friend at the store. No one expects that to happen. Can I be on top of my son every moment? No…is it even healthy to always have me hover over him the rest of his life? Absolutely not (although I certainly want to!) So what does one do?

Ignorance is bliss in my book. I’ve said it before. I can only be scared of the things I know about, and if I don’t know it…well then so be it! I can only do my best to protect my son from the crazy horrible things in this world. I can only hope that it will be enough. In the mean time I will try to spare myself some psychiatric damage by staying away from the news. My mind is crazy enough and doesn’t need the help!