I get trapped in my own powerlessness (hear Nelly Furtado singing it?) that makes me angry when stuff like that happens. It’s my feeling powerless that leads me to move away from the kid in the first place… making it harder for her to come to me with questions.

So a loud and clear YES to assuming the positive intention of your child… but also, a YES to the acknowledging my own fear of not being a good enough parent (what will people think of a peanutbuttercaked keyboard? will my laptop smell of peanut forever?). I have to reassure myself it’s OK not to know what to do (all the time), allow myself to be imperfect… that’s what gives me time and space to breathe out and not panic.

Also, the gentle reminder that a life threatening situation is the ONLY valid cause for panic. All the drama around us (on TV etc. ) makes it easy for us to forget this simple, basic fact of life. If there’s no immediate life threat, the panic itself is probably worse than what happened before.

Now, how to convince my dear husband to do likewise…

I like peanutbutter : )