This could happen in my brain. There would be a dragon off camera.
My brain has a hyper-active ‘what if’ response that I call writer’s brain. It tends to be dark because earning a happy ending is more satisfying.
Like today, on the side of the road a crane held up a light post they were fixing. I could picture it slamming down into traffic, smashing a car, and causing a massive pile up.
This was all fine for myself, but had become a bit of a nuisance when I had kids.
I had to stop watching horror. I had a hard enough time picturing the most horrible thing would happen to my kids that I didn’t need help coming up with new ideas. Walking on a balance beam equaled compound fractures or traumatic brain injury or even death.
Stuff like that does happen. I’ve read about it. The internet would never lie.
This weird territory. I want my kids to be independent and have experiences. I want them to be able to learn from their mistakes. But I also don’t want them to be a statistic. I want to wrap them in bubble wrap and hover over them.
I find myself weighing the odds of a particular scenario happening. How much is my writer’s brain going cra cra verses a probable outcome from the given situation?
If my kiddos jump off the two foot retaining wall, will they fall through a wormhole? No? Okay, then.
What do you do balance keeping kids safe, but letting them have adventures?
So many things…parents cant do them all. What comes to mind – How about teaching them how to cross the street? That might take some stress off. Or Providing help for everything, like a skinned knee, or a running nose. Those are little things but if they are used to you helping, they might come to you for the big things. More stress off the plate.