Sunscreen Helmets and Hotdogs

As I was slathering sunscreen on my son before the ski race this morning I got to thinking about my obsession with this one particular thing. I am the sunscreen police. (and yes, it is winter, but that doesn't mean that I'll send him outdoors for a 6 hour race without protection)

Everyone has something that they worry about, but it is impossible to worry about everything all the time. Really - you can't protect your kids from everything, so we all just pick and choose which safety items to stress and which to let go. It is a completely random and rather amusing process when you think about it.

I am hyper-vigilant about sunscreen. It is just the way I am. I know that other moms are able to send their kids outdoors without thinking twice about it, but for me - it is important.

On the other hand, I really don't bother with worrying about playgrounds. My kids run, jump, climb, and use equipment improperly all the time, and it just doesn't bother me. I've even gotten flack from other moms for putting my babies on the ground at the park. I'm watching - I can pick the rocks and sand out of their mouth each time they try to taste the ground. I know some of you are sitting there reading this completely horrified, but what can I do? It is the truth.

Some of my friends are okay with putting their babies to sleep on their tummies. To me this one is dangerously taboo - I wouldn't dream of it. (But I'm okay with the rocks - see I told you it was random)

Another friend is great about monitoring her kids food. They eat only organic, locally grown, free range, best of the best food. She would probably fall over and die to watch my kids dance around the house when they learn that they will get hot dogs for lunch.

Helmets seem overkill to me, but I'm good at following rules, so we wear them. I fall into the "we-never-had-those-when-I-was-a-kid" category on this item. And by the way - I am laughing at how similar I am to all the old ladies I used to work with at the nursing home. They loved the "when-I-was-a-kid" phrase.

Now, although I'm unconcerned about bike crashes, I am very concerned about car crashes. Car-seats are all important. I'm willing to spend an extra hundred dollars for a better safety rating. Seriously. Is it really that much safer? I don't know, but I'm not willing to take a chance on this one.

So, I'm okay with my weirdness. The hard part is not judging other moms when their weirdness doesn't match my own . . .

What? You allow your baby to . . . that's so Weird!