Real Moms Know Real Fear

I've been tagged by UUMomma with the "Real Moms" meme. It is amazing how fast this is spreading -- go check out some of the other responses. I'm tagging Nancy, Katy, Karen, Rev. A.C. Miles, and Peg. Here's the Rules. Here's where to post your link.

Real Moms know real fear.

Forget rollercoasters or the Blair Witch Project. Being a mom will introduce you to a whole other level of fear. Like the first time your baby sleeps through the night. The initial delight upon waking -- Wow, I got a good night's sleep! -- is immediately replaced with -- What's wrong? What happened? So we turn up the baby monitor, in hopes of hearing a deep breath or a sigh. Sometimes, we go racing in to the nursery, usually waking up the baby in the process.

Sometimes the baby doesn't wake up. Ever. And that's the fear that is always within us.

Then there's the moment you're playing outside and you turn to water a plant and when you turn back around, he's gone. Gone! And you race around, to discover him giggling in the front yard, trying to pick up a pine cone.

Sometimes, he's not in the front yard. He's in the neighbor's pool. Or you hear a screech of brakes. And that's the fear that is always within us.

And then there's the times you take the baby to the pediatrician because of a weird rash, or repeated vomiting, or a strange lump on her side. Nightmares go through your head of all the worst things it could be. And then the pediatrician says, oh, it's a yeast infection, or the stomach flu is going around, or it's just constipation.

Sometimes, it's not any of those things. It's cancer.

And that's the fear that is always within us.