Parents’ biggest fears
FOR many parents, the moment they discover they have been blessed with an offspring their brains automatically rewire and their ‘parental DNA’ becomes active. A natural part of this process is fear — most time driven by the reality that there will be something, no matter how small, that is out of their control.
What are parents most fearful of? We asked some to share their biggest fears as parents.
Sandra, 34, air hostess:
My biggest fear is my child just switching up on me. I don’t know if it’s something in the air or what. I didn’t see it in my generation this much, but these days we see our kids just changing out of the blue — you raise them well and they seem to be on the right track, then bam, they start to show signs of everything you feared even though you played all your cards right to prevent it.
Sharry-Ann, 30, caregiver:
My biggest fear is losing my child. As you can see nobody has any regard for life anymore, not even the baby on the breast gets any mercy. If they are not raping, they are killing our kids and all it has to be is that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and your child is gone. To these people only their children or their family matters.
Clarkey, 53, insurance agent:
That my child/children die before me. No parent should ever have to bury their children.
Patricia, 48, farmer:
Not being a good mother.
Sanique, 32, district constable:
That I die before my kids are old enough to go off on their own. The truth is nobody is going to do what I do and my children mean the world to me.
Jason, 27, bank teller:
That my child is used as a pawn. I love my son, he is my heart outside my body, but seeing how kids are kept from their dads and told things to poison their minds against them, it worries me. It would kill me.
Sheryl, 47, production supervisor:
Not being able to fulfil my needs for her; that would really break my heart. Also, I fear not being around for when, as old people would say, she passes the worst.
Nashara, 22, sales representative:
My biggest fear is definitely if they discover a condition in my child that is incurable or that I am unable to fund. I don’t ever want to feel helpless with my child. I don’t want her to say mommy help and I can’t. I just continue to ask God to cover her because every minute you hear about another disease.
Christopher, 43, self-employed:
At the moment it is sudden death infant syndrome — SIDS — when your good and healthy child dies while sleeping. I check my son and if he sleeps too long, or doesn’t move as much, I just become suspicious. I’m a scaredy cat so that would tie with the idea of my child being kidnapped and hurt as well as that I fail to protect my child from the monsters in the world.
Tiffany, 26, unemployed:
I am afraid that I am not equipped to help her become the best person she can be. She is my only child and I know I want the best for her, but not knowing how to help her, that is scary. I don’t want her to be a screw-up like me.
