Reading the news from around the world, a father-to-be cannot help but fear for the child that will soon come into the world. This morning, upon arriving to work, I read about a horrible bear attack in Montana, drug cartel clashes in Mexico, whooping cough pandemic in California, unemployment rates rising in Spain, pit bulls killing smaller dogs in Massachusetts, and Glenn Beck still being alive in the world. These are the type of things that one would want to shelter a child from, keep them from the chance of injuring themselves, keep them from having irrational fears that the likes of Sarah Palin or John McCain could ever hold the office of President. But my question now is, how far should a parent go to protect a child from the things in the world that may or will hurt them?
Looking back to growing up in Central Massachusetts, I realize that my parents were smart in allowing me to learn from life. I was never one of the children attached to a baby leash, their were no fences corralling me, and my parents did not swoon over me with hand sanitizer; I don’t remember washing my hands for the first 11 years of my life. But it was the 80’s. My grandparents’ home made it easy to get in trouble growing up. I was pecked at by chickens, got stuck in trees, lost in the woods, bit by snapping turtles, tore legs on jagged metal, at a young age I was allowed to use a snow-blower, use canoes on my own, I was the only non-Greek on an all Greek kid’s soccer team, and even at the age of 10 in worcester I was hit by a dump truck while riding my bmx bike (this fact can be verified by several family members, two retired members of the Worcester police force, and a dump truck driver.)
Where is the worth in sheltering a child from the world? Is it an attempt to shelter them and to keep them pure? It can be argued that more evil has emerged in the world since the wide-spread use of the internet, that there are more predators in the world sitting in the 1’s and 0’s shadows waiting for your child, they there are more sickos and weirdos in the world. But is there really? Ted Bundy and Ronald Reagan existed long before the internet. I am thankful that my parents did not micromanage each facet of my youth. Right now, sitting here, as my wife is still 5 months pregnant, without a tangible child in my arms, I say, I choose to allow my child freedom. I want to now pledge to teaching them how to fight off bobcat attacks and when they grow up cougar attacks, I want to teach them to expect ring worm and hook worm infections, and I want to buy them their own First Aid kit in case of turtle or dump truck attack. Here in Spain, parents allow children to start practicing bullfighting at 4 years old and in the Inuit culture, children are taught to hunt polar bears and wolves at 6. Freaking Polar Bears and Wolves, Polar Bears and Wolves. But we, the modern date cultured Americans fear our children being lost in the local Wal-mart or if you have granddaddy dollars you are afraid of your child being hit by a segway at your local Whole Foods.
Is allowing your child to get bumps and scrapes and turtle wounds being an irresponsible parent? I hope not, to appease my wife, I may try selling this stand point that by promising her that whatever happens to my child will happen to me to. I am not excited about getting poison ivy in my nether regions again, I am not too amped about getting stung by bees after smashing their hive with a baseball bat; but I would do it so my child will live a full life. Our child will listen to Black Sabbath while other children are singing along to Raffi. But remember, I am saying this now, my child is not born yet, I am just acting like I know what I am talking about. Ideally, I want to find the happy medium between overly safe sanitized parenting and stupidity.
Adventures in Human Growing 
