Worry-wart

As a parent, I find that I worry about things a lot more than I used to. I worry the instant they hop on that school bus - will they get to school OK? Will they get hurt or sick while at school? Will they get on the right bus to come home? When they are asleep at night I worry - did they dress warm enough? Could they suffocate from a stuffed animal being too close to their faces? Could they vomit in their sleep and choke on it? When we visit other people's houses I worry - do they have dangerous items within reach? Are there small things on the floor that the kids might eat? Is their dog going to attack my kid? And the list goes on and on...

As they get older, the worry fades a bit. But when they are teenagers the fear will come back tenfold as they get behind the wheel of an automobile. I dread the day my kids drive. I'm sure they will be very safe and cautious themselves, but I worry about all the other crazy drivers out there and all the terrible accidents we have in this area. Hopefully, our kids will be so used to walking places with us that they will walk or take the trolley when they need to go somewhere. I also plan on the kids riding the school bus even through high school. I read that up to 90% of high school students in Eureka ride the school bus, so they can't complain that they are the only ones riding it.