New EU safety rules, just now being implemented, require that balloons may not be blown up by unsupervised children, for fear that the child may swallow the balloon and choke.  The same rules apply to party whistles and magnetic fishing games.

[caption id="attachment_519" align="alignright" width="163" caption="Benjamin, age 4, with his teddy bear. This photo from our book, When You Were a Baby."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/BenjTeddyWYWB.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-519 " title="BenjTeddyWYWB" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/BenjTeddyWYWB-204x300.jpg" alt="" width="163" height="240" /></a>[/caption]

In addition the new EU rules dictate how noisy toys may be - including rattles and musical instruments. The rules even cover teddy bears, which must now be fully washable, lest those mangy stuffed animals harbor germs.

The outcry over the new rules centers on how they will inhibit a child’s freedom to play and to explore, restricting the types of play that encourage children to be independent.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, warned: "These bans diminish the experience, both of having fun and learning, by turning play into a danger zone with rules that stifle life and adventure for children."

[caption id="attachment_518" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Matthew, age 4, with a sparkler."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MattSparkler.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-518 " title="MattSparkler" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MattSparkler-214x300.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="210" /></a>[/caption]

And, I would add, increase the stress levels of the mothers who will be expected to abide by the new rules.

I cannot help but think that of the fears I felt for my children when they were small, balloons and party whistles were not high on the list.  My fears were over pollution, insecticides on apples, school shootings, serious diseases.

At the time<em> Motherhood Stress</em> was released, in a survery of its readers, Ladies Home Journal asked mothers, “What worries you most about raising your children?”
43% said “protecting children from drug use”
36% said “the media and peers undercutting parental authority”
29% worried about working and not being at home full-time
20% worried about economic instability
17% were concerned about protecting their children from AIDS

Nothing in that list comes close to including the dangers posed by balloons and/or party whistles!

Fear is stressful.  It’s not as if mothers spend every waking hour in a state of perpetual anxiety over the safety and security of our children.  But we recognize many valid reasons to worry about the welfare of the babies we’ve brought into this dangerous and fallen world.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignleft" width="204" caption="Our adventuresome DIL Jessica on a motor bike"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Jessmotorbike.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-196" title="Jessmotorbike" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Jessmotorbike-300x285.jpg" alt="" width="204" height="193" /></a>[/caption]

And yet, as mothers, we know that our children need to face risks and access dangers, even as young children.  A growing body of evidence suggests that newer playgrounds, with “safer” - and therefore less challenging - equipment does not make our children’s lives safer.  Does not even produce fewer serious falls.  Apparently both parents and children overestimate the safety factors and are more prone to attempt risky moves.  And when children become bored wih “safe” playgrounds, they are more likely to play elsewhere, in truly dangerous locations.

[caption id="attachment_197" align="alignright" width="175" caption="Gregg and Jonathan on a zipline over the Hersey River in Michigan"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/gregg-jon-zipline.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-197" title="gregg jon zipline" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/gregg-jon-zipline-175x300.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

I remember climbing one of the old, tall climbers on a playground in Griffin, Georgia, in 1956 or 1957, when I would have been either five or six years old. I paused at a point when I still felt safe, close enough to the ground.  Then I remember the thrill of taking that deep breathe and climbing higher, then higher.  Stopping at each level of the climber, to get my courage up to climb another rung.  And then the thrill of reaching the top and knowing that I had conquered that mountain.

Even now, fifty years later, I clearly remember that sense of victory.  I believe that successes like that, as a child, taught me to be willing to step outside my comfort zone and take on challenges as an adult.

[caption id="attachment_198" align="alignleft" width="221" caption="Lisette braved the zipline over the river, by herself"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/lisette-zipline.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-198 " title="lisette zipline" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/lisette-zipline-230x300.jpg" alt="" width="221" height="288" /></a>[/caption]

In the book,<a title="Take the Risk" href="http://www.amazon.com/Take-Risk-Learning-Identify-Acceptable/dp/0310259738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1318381136&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank"> Take the Risk</a>, Dr. Ben Carson says, “Since risk-taking is an almost universal trait of adolescence,the wisest strategy for parent is to offer teenagers controlled, acceptable risk-experiences. . . Teens are driven by human nature to establish, discover and prove who they will be and where they will fit into an adult world.  How will they do that? By exploring, experimenting, practicing and testing all manner of new experiences - and dealing with the incumbent risks.”

[caption id="attachment_201" align="alignright" width="263" caption="Matthew, with cousins, canoeing in Michigan"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/matt-canoe.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-201" title="matt canoe" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/matt-canoe.jpg" alt="" width="263" height="240" /></a>[/caption]

Mission trips, white-water rafting, mountain hiking, public performances, acting or speaking, competitive sports - all provide teens with opportunities to challenge themselves, face the possibility of failure, embarassment and disappointment, get themselves out of their comfort zone.  And find out that they can succeed.  And that if they fail, life will go on with other opportunities.

[caption id="attachment_199" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="DIL Jessica white water rafting as a teen"]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/JessWhiteWaterRaft.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-199" title="JessWhiteWaterRaft" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/JessWhiteWaterRaft-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="149" /></a>[/caption]

As parents, as mothers, we do not want to be so focused on keeping our children safe, that we stunt their emotional or creative growth or limit their potential for leadership and adventure in life.