Not on my radar

Do you have a gun in your house? I am just going to ask you via my blog because I frankly feel uncomfortable asking everyone I know face to face. And according to all the news lately, this is now a standard question I must ask. Stupidly I would assume that those who own guns have the sense to keep them locked away from their children, but yet another story of a little one getting hurt came across the AP. I have nothing against guns. We have one. And if you have met my family, you know nothing short of an arsenal exists in several of their homes. I am also confident those guns are not accessible to kids. Yet the Indianapolis Star has said that nearly 50% of residences in Indiana have a gun. Can I trust all these people to be safe? Hudson has talked about his classmates outside of school. He is going to want and play at some kid's house one day. The most recent gun injury was to a FOUR year old. Ugh.

Lately brand new stresses have been popping up on my radar. When you have a baby, you are so focused on the dangers within your own life that you can control. You babyproof. You buy the right carseat. You start to watch your pottymouth. (Or was that just me?) That kind of stuff; then *poof* you have a toddler who is now getting to the age where new dangers exist. Real dangers I can not control.

They had a fire safety program at school and a ton of literature came home. Do we have a plan in case of a fire? Um, no. Get out of the house? I have avoided talking with Hudson about what he learned because I have not done my part to contrive an escape plan.

I admit it- even blogging about this is not fun, but it is the reality of the world we live in. I might not want to talk to him about strangers, but I don’t want him to vanish out of my front yard either. I guarantee that he would more than not talk to an unfamiliar person who stopped in front of our house than run from them. Honestly, I like this about him too. But with the recent attempted abductions happening, the “stranger danger” conversation must be on our horizon.

For months now I have questioned the public-ness of this blog. I am aware that several people I do not know read this (friends of my parents, etc.) and that does not bother me. (Hi ya'll!) Honestly, I am more bothered by those people I know but am not friends with that read this. (Isn't that the definition of a stalker?) Anyway, I wonder often if I should protect the privacy of my life a bit more. One day if this little blog is MIA, I have decided to password protect it.

I talk a lot with my mom about being a mom today versus when she was raising me. We might have many modern conveniences now, but parenting sure is not easier. Too much distraction. Too many freaks. The reality is I don’t want to talk to my three year old about gun safety, but I don’t want him to be a statistic.  Oh jeez…and I thought potty training was stressful.

P.S. Happier blog tomorrow. Just had to get this out of my brain! XO, Heather