Is Safest Always Best?

WARNING: If you do not like reflective commentary... do not read.

The title of this blog comes as a result of a conversation I recently had with a friend of mine regarding car seats (and by my observations of a few mothers' reactions to me at the playground). She is making a choice with her daughter that is deemed the "safest" by the transportation gurus of America. I did not make that choice. I chose a safe option, but decided that the small 10-15% improvement in safety wasn't that great a benefit and posed more problems for the three years that it would likely be occuring. Am I a poor mother for making that choice?

I make other choices that aren't the "safest" for Jonathan. I let him ride his tricyle without a helmet and he can get going pretty fast for a kid his age, I allow him to climb on things from which he could fall (although not high things from which he could break his neck or other appendages), we play in the rain when it is cold and have a great time, and he eats dirt and sand and I don't really try hard to stop it. He could fall and get a bloody lip from climbing, he could get quite scraped up from riding his tricyle like that (and has), and he could worsen a lurking germ by playing in very cold puddles. I know that. I choose to take those small risks because I want him to be a risk taker. A calculated risk-taker, but a risk-taker, none the less. It is not an easy choice, and I am not being a lazy or ignorant mother for choosing those things. These are choices I am making with the long term in mind. You can say "i told you so" if he gets hurt. But, I still choose risks. The kamakazee on his tricyle
Playing in the puddles when it is fifty degrees...

Those who choose the "safest" option as determined by other mothers and fathers across America are making a choice that is always commended. I agree... those kids are less likely to be injured and will be safer than my kid. I simply challenge the notion that I am making a less acceptable choice as a mother. Let my kid be the daredevil. That is OK by me. I have prayed about the choice to allow him to take small risks like this, and am trusting God with the things that I cannot control. So - safest mothers and fathers... carry on. But, don't think less of me because I choose differently.

Sarah