My New Biggest Fear

As a parent you are told about the dangers of EVERYTHING. The dangers of household items (such as drop side cribs, batteries, and window blinds), activities (baths and eating grapes and hotdogs), and other things (car accidents, strangers, etc.). In the world we live in, parents can/could/should be scared every moment of every day about these dangers. I have had a pretty minimum amount of fear that anything is going to happen to my children. That is not to say I would ever leave Mae or Whitaker alone in the bathtub or keep poisoinous substances in reach of their young hands. My BIGGEST fear as a parent is someone stealing one of my children. I freak out in grocerry stores if my cart is too far away from me. I know it seems pretty irrational on the probable scale of what could happen to my babies but it is something I have always worried about. Until today. I now have another fear.

Since we haven't had that much of a summer, we haven't gotten to do a lot of the summer things in Seattle, including visiting one of the wading pools. Anyways, today we decided to hit the wading pool at Volunteer Park. I was sitting on the side of the pool holding Whitaker while watching Mae frolic in the water (I made sure to not take my eyes off of Mae). She made her way to the center of the pool and was playing with some other kids. All of a sudden she fell (it is about two feet deep) and couldn't get herself up and went under the water. I have never felt that much fear in my entire life watching her flail around to get herself up. I leapt into action. I sprinted with Whitaker in my arms, in my clothes to the center and got her very quick. Thank goodness for all those years of life guarding training. She was understandably pretty shaken up and crying. Nothing compared to how I was freaking out inside. I was screaming in my head that I can't believe I could be that stupid to not being standing over her at all times. I am hoping that is the closest that I come to my new fear.

I wanted to document this event not to point out how terrified I was but a testament to how tough my little girls is. After about one minute of crying, she got right back in the water.