Nothing to fear but fear (and Donald Trump)

I have always been a worrier. I self diagnose myself with at least one fatal disease a week. I see peril wherever I go and have to get Jeremy to watch me unplug the iron because there's no way I'll believe my own memory. Sometimes thinking about the future and all its infinite unknowns gives me vertigo and I have to breathe myself back into the present.

Having a baby has not helped.

Here are a few things I am now afraid of (and a few that I've always been afraid of):

Walls
Gravity
Donald Trump
Stairs
People who think Donald Trump should be a presidential candidate
Lonely sad men with access to guns
Electricity
Blind cords
People who are more afraid of terrorists than the lonely sad men
Elmo
Isolationism
NRA
Furniture
ISIS
Grapes
Fox News
Water
Compassion Fatigue
Cars
People who get their news from Fox News
Ben Carson
People who think Ben Carson should be a presidential candidate
Flying

With most of these things, I swallow down my terror and smile. I make sure there are no fatal hazards around and let him explore the world in the presence of walls and gravity. When we fly and it's turbulent and I imagine us all plunging to our deaths, I don't let him see my fear. I don't want him to be afraid of flying, or of grapes or of water. Or even of Elmo, although that high pitched third person thing is crazy creepy. I want W to toddle out into the world and to feel safe and confident doing so.

I'm perfectly fine with him being terrified of Trump though. That's just common sense.