Every parent will tell you that worrying is taken to a whole new level once you become a parent. Your level of responsibility shoots up so therefore, naturally, so does the amount of worrying you do. Perhaps this decreases slightly with the arrival of a second child because the factor of uncertainty has been taken away.
According to the latest Boots advert 61% of new mums wish they'd worried less. This is a fantastic subject for Boots to tackle (and a very clever marketing tactic!) because every parent will have an opinion to offer on the subject of worrying. So many of us also have regrets and things we wish we had done differently, and for a lot of parents this is the amount of time they spent worrying when they could have been enjoying time with their babies.
But worrying isn't all bad.
Perhaps it's the tone of voice in which it was said but the next part of the advert left me feeling a little annoyed. The part where it is stated 'Even though they may have allergies when they are younger. It doesn't mean to say that will stay with them.' This is of course completely true. If you look at this statement written down and by itself there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. But it is also the sentence that every allergy parent is sick of hearing. For me, it's because every person who has caused my child to have a reaction or a near miss has at some point previously spouted words along the lines of 'Ah never mind, he'll grow out of it.' For me it is also because the times that I have decided that perhaps I need to stop over exaggerating and worry less have been followed by a reaction or a near miss.
The fact that they might grow out of it doesn't mean the risk is less today. The fact that they might grow out of it doesn't stop them feeling left out at the party they will attend this weekend. The fact that he might grow out of it doesn't change the fact that at nearly five years old my son is still on Neocate feeds. Allergy parents have a reputation for worrying too much, and I think Boots may have just made this worse.
Worry to the point of regret is never a good thing, but for allergy parents worry can stop situations where the aftermath would involve nothing but regret.
