(2 Karats and a Kid) The Good News Is...

Mommy-ism #23:  The good news is that babies are more durable than we think.

I read somewhere that a parent's sole responsibility before a child turns five is to keep them alive.  As the mother of an active and vicarious boy, I can attest that in the past 16 months of his life, I am convinced more than ever that this adage is true.

He has fallen off of sofas and out of beds.  He has jumped out of his crib and his high chair.

He likes to suck on computer cords that are plugged into walls.

Thankfully for me, the geniuses who design laptops make the voltage too low to harm a person who touches (or sucks) on the other end of the cord.

Jesus be a fence...

Within thirty minutes of child-proofing my house, my son broke into one of the cabinets and was looking for his favorite remote control.  If he can beat "the system" before the age of two, I wonder what my little Baby MacGyver will be able to do by the age of ten.

I write this because I know many mothers out there who, like myself, worry consistently about the danger that is awaiting our kids.  What I have began to learn, through my child who likes to complete death-defying stunts, is that we can only protect our children so much.  Despite our efforts, there will always be something that we didn't see, something that we didn't catch or notice.  It doesn't speak to our ineptitude as mothers, it simply reminds us that we are human...and it's okay.

It also reminds us that there is an invisible presence that protects our children.  As they grow older, the scenarios will change but the need for this presence will be same.  Be it God, Christ, or angels, I am grateful for the consideration that divine beings have afforded my child and the children of those that I know (as well as those I don't know).

We can look around at the times that we are living in and be afraid.  There are rumors of wars, violence, and other frightful things that we can not explain.  Yet, just like God has protected my son from concussions and electrical zaps, I can only trust that he will continue to do the same regardless of the size or the scope of any situation.  So every morning, I close my eyes and tell God that I am putting my son in the only place where I know he will be safe, and that is in God's arms.

But I'll keep fighting the good fight of trying to keep him as safe as possible, even if he mocks my efforts...cause hey, that's what a mom is supposed to do.