Separation Anxiety

Not just experienced by kids, separation anxiety also affects us moms. My most recent experience was when my six-year-old son slept outside of the home for the first time. As he’s going to school soon, he spent a night at the kindergarten, and was excited about the prospect, but I was feeling hesitant (so much that I asked his dad to take him there in the morning). I felt that it would be too difficult to say goodbye, as I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing him for a whole day.

At home, I always worry about my kids: I fear the worst if they can’t sleep, don’t want to eat or if something bad would happen to them. Thankfully, they’re usually safe when under the supervision of teachers at the kindergarten. If they need rest or food, they get what they need if they ask for it, which is reassuring.

It’s perfectly normal for parents to worry about their children’s wellbeing when they don’t see them. However, no matter how hard we try, we can’t be there for them all the time, especially when it comes to preventing them from facing injuries or illness, as accidents tend to happen all the time.

We worry quite a lot when they’re in public spaces, especially if they’re not child-friendly. They could suffer a slip, trip or fall on an uneven surface, which can be distressing, as I found out recently. While eating out at a Japanese restaurant, my little boy fell off the slide at the playground and landed on the floor. As it wasn’t surrounded by protective rubber mats, he fell on his face, which was covered in blood, resulting in a visit to the hospital where he received five stitches on his forehead. As I had health insurance, I received payment to help cover medical expenses, but wondered what would happen if the restaurant had rubber mats.

If you’ve been in a similar situation where you’ve slipped, tripped or fallen in a public space, you could investigate making personal injury claims. The maintenance of public spaces is the responsibility of the owners or local authorities, and it’s worth taking them to task if the injury suffered was no fault of your own. UK-based legal firm First4lawyers can help you to claim compensation which can help to cover costs such as loss of income from not being able to work or medical bills.

Should there be a possibility that you could prevent accidents from happening, you’ll want to have a go, especially when it comes to protecting your kids. Although we can’t be there for them all the time, it’s worthwhile letting them explore the big wide world, as they’ll have to learn to cope by themselves sooner or later.