I’ve been told many times that I’m overprotective. That I’m a helicopter mom. That I won’t always be able to stop them from getting hurt.
And I just smile.
Because people who tell me I’m too protective of my children, those who don’t understand my anxiety, those who don’t get why I feel a desperation to keep my girls safe from every danger—those people don’t know me, they don’t know my story.
I am that overprotective mom. And I make no apologies for that.
You see, I’m no fool.
I know I cannot keep my sweet girls safe from all harm.
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I know there are hurts in this world I will not be able to save them from.
But those risks that I can foresee, you can be sure I am going to be their shield.
Because while I have witnessed the goodness of God, I have experienced the evil of man.
I have known good and lasting friendships, and I have also had my secrets told and trust broken.
I have seen the most beautiful examples of kindness and humanity, and I have worked with children born to families unwilling to love and nurture them.
I have been safe in the true and tender love of a devoted husband, and I have also felt the fist and the boot of a man I wanted to love me.
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I have gone to sleep often being thankful for the blessings of that day, and I have forced myself to stay awake fearful of the nightmares and flashbacks that taunted me.
I know the world is a dangerous place.
That is not anxiety or pessimism.
It is the sad reality.
So before you judge that overprotective mom you know, remember all she is doing is guarding her most precious jewels.
That mama who hovers over her toddler in the playground, the one who didn’t let her daughter come for a sleepover, the one who still doesn’t let her teen rise the bus—don’t judge, you don’t know that mama’s story.
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These precious jewels entrusted to us by God? Every mama is just trying her best to watch over them the best she can.