Supernanny Rules

Are we a nation too obsessed with safety?

by Gayla on November 15th, 2007

Everywhere I go there are signs stating the coffee is hot - the floors are wet, watch your step, not responsible for injury, no lifeguard on duty - and that’s just the large signs in public places. Taking this whole topic a bit further, look at nearly any appliance or electrical device and you’re likely to find some really lame warning that should be common sense. Like don’t dry your hair while taking a bath.

What’s with this stuff? Are we obsessed with safety or are we breeding new generations of dumbasses?

Since my kids were very young, I’ve told them if you have an accident after 5 PM, I’m not going to the emergency room after that time, because we’ll be there all night.

I don’t know about where you live, but around here, there is NOTHING quick about our ER. The shows on television are so misleading! There should be a sign or warning for that!

Back to what I was saying — There have been times when my boys would be outside playing - I could usually count on the one I lovingly call “drama queen” to come in screaming in agony - he’d somehow managed to get hurt.

I respond like any smart mom would…

Me “Can you move it?”

Son “yup”

Me “Is it bleeding?”

Son “nope.”

Me “You’ll live, get back out there.”

For a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me as a mother, because I wasn’t one of those mom’s who would wince every time one of them fell next to the coffee table. I just knew that if he fell close enough, he wouldn’t do that again!

To me it’s good for kids to know the pain of sliding down a hot metal slide that’s been basking in the hot summer sun. They learn to recognize by observation when things are HOT!

It’s also good for kids to fall and scuff up their knees when they don’t watch where they are going! They learn to keep their eyes on where they are going and not so much on what the people around them are doing. Quite a nice trait to have when they go from walking to driving.

I want my kids to learn what hurts, what’s dangerous and how to avoid them by making mistakes rather than having me walk around behind them throwing out warnings every now and again.

I look forward to the day when my kids can move out, get their own place and let me track dirt in on their floors for a change!

So - what do you think? Are we raising a village full of idiots?

Tags: parenting, safety, raising kids, motherhood

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POSTED IN: Parenting