I actually started this series of “Cf Parenting IRL” posts with a very selfish motive: I wanted to understand some of the risks out there for Arlo and establish a baseline of what we’re comfortable with as a family and what we really want to avoid.
But I definitely want to reiterate that families and individuals must make their own choices - and I guess I just hope that these posts might empower you with some additional knowledge to make those choices.
One thing I found that helped me when weighing up the risks for some of the activities was asking myself “Will Arlo miss out if we completely avoid this?” And if the answer is No then that’s it, we’ll avoid it. For instance, toys with valves are being ejected from the house because actually Arlo won’t miss out by using safe toys. But he will seriously miss out if I never let him swim in the sea or play in a sandpit. So those are different.
But I’ve heard from people who have been doing some of these activities for years because it makes them happy or because it’s a deal breaker for them or their little ones for some other reason.
And just because one family avoids a particular activity doesn’t mean you should feel you have to as well. Or if one family is comfortable doing something then that shouldn’t stop you from being cautious if it gives you anxiety.
So - you do you. Be informed, make sure you understand the risk and then make your judgment.
There was a study I read that said around 80% of parents reported feelings of guilt and depression when their child caught a bug. So I’m going to remind you that there’s only so much you can control - as @cftrustuk says ‘It's important to remember that life can be risky – we all have to weigh up risk against quality of life’. Bugs are everywhere - a lot of them are airborne - and we can’t remove all of the risks entirely for our children.
So go easy on yourselves 🙏🙏🙏🙏
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