5 Things That Terrify Parents of Young Children

Parenthood brings with it many surprises, joys, excitement...and fear.There are certain statements and occurrences that provoke a sentiment of terror in the hearts of parents with young children. If you're not a parent you may not understand the absolute fear on the face of your friends or colleagues when certain statements are uttered.Let me open your eyes a bit.1. Silence- At first silence is blissful. A welcome reprieve from the chatter and questioning that young ones tend to encourage. Then, once you realize that no, Bubba is not napping, it becomes a series of mounting questions: Where is he? What is he doing? Where are the pens? The markers? The scissors!? Are the doors shut? HOW long has it been this quiet? and so on. Our cherub has recently started playing "peek-a-boo" with us which is his version of hide-until-mommy-gets-close then shout PEEK-A-BOO from behind the couch. Yup, ticker's working.2. FOBO- Not what you're thinking. This is Fear of Being Outnumbered. I'd much rather go to the store with the four of us, man-on-man defense right now. Once they get a bit older and listen a little better I'm sure it'll be fine but until then, bring backup.3. Thumps- when your littles get big enough to be on-the-move mystery thumps are enough to stop you in your tracks. Was that a head? A bottom? Are there tears? Anything broken? 4. The possibility that your young child will appear at your bedside in the pitch blackness of the wee hours of the morning. Now that Bubba is in a big boy bed this is one of my greatest fears. There's nothing that says panic & run like waking up to the innocent stare of a pale two-year-old at 3am. No thanks. 5. Growing up too fast. This one seems to happen before you realize it. One day you turn around and they're doing things they couldn't do yesterday. They don't need as much help and they don't want to be cuddled but to run and play with their friends. All part of growing up, but it's something I wish would happen a little slower some days.I'm sure there are many more things that terrify parents especially those with little ones, I was going to do a top 10 list, but I didn't want to scar you for life.What would you add to this list?Be Great,M