Fear Factor

It starts even before a mom-to-be finds out she is pregnant.
"Take plenty of folic acid or your baby may have spina bifida."
Then it continues after the little stick reads positive.
"Don't each cold meat or your baby could get sick. Don't garden where cats have possibly been. Don't take hot baths." And on and on and on . . . .
As the baby's birth nears, you start to think, "Wow. It has to be easier to have the baby out in the world. At least I can see him or her to make sure everything is alright."
Then you start to go baby shopping and find the fear is just beginning. Nearly every item of baby gear claims that you must purchase it for your baby or somehow he or she will die because of your cheap ignorance. The market has parents right where it wants them--"Would you risk the life of your child by not buying our special crib mattress, blanket, car seat, stroller, or other ingenious product?"
It seems like danger lurks around every corner anymore. The major source of that, I believe, is parenting magazines, which I have gradually lost interest in over the years. (For this reason and the fact that I can't remember the last time I followed any advice from a parenting magazine.) I understand that those who have lost a child would find healing in making sure a similar tragedy never happened to anyone else. The downside of that is we are inundated with horror stories of children who have died from medical error, a scraped knee, or passed away in their sleep for no reason at all. It is enough to keep a mom awake nights long after the initial danger of SIDS has supposedly passed.
The irony of this is kids lived in a much more dangerous world a generation or two ago. People just didn't have a way of knowing every danger that could possibly be lurking around the next mosquito bite or lead paint chip. They were too busy working! Their kids didn't have hand sanitizer. They ate dirt and were happy.
At this time we have decided not to immunize our children against the flu. The flu has already hit our school as well as several other area schools. From what I read in our regional newspaper, the clinics and ER have been flooded with those with flu-like symptoms, but none have been hospitalized. The story said that most of these cases have probably been H1N1 and the best thing for these patients is to stay home.
Every morning, The Early Show has a story on H1N1. A couple weeks ago, the lead-in to the story of the day was that there may be a shortage of children's Tamiflu this winter. By the end of the interview, I learned that children can take a smaller adult dose of Tamiflu, of which there is plenty, and most people who come down with
H1N1 won't even need it at all! Then, this morning I heard Harry Smith ask that million dollar question that can make any parent bristle--"Would you take that chance?"
I would never take a chance on my children's lives, but I do not believe in all of the fear-inducing hype the media has been throwing at us this fall.
It almost makes me yearn for the days when all I had to worry about was counting milligrams of folic acid.