I was asked this question by a friend who looks at our flickr photos regularly. She is interested in my life as the parent of a toddler because she knows its not too far away from her own future.
My response, in short: oh my goodness, yes!
While I have certainly discovered that I am far, FAR more laid back than many other parents, mothering a toddler is an emotional rollercoaster all day long, and often involves worry and fright. I could tell she wanted me to elaborate, so here are just a few of the things that instantly came to mind.
My 23 month old is fearless. Some kids her age stick to their parents a lot and are generally timid and shy but she is most certainly neither of those things. She’ll run right up to people and jump right into things. I love it but it can absolutely be scary! For instance, I’m trying to teach her that she needs to ask dog owners if their dogs are friendly before approaching them. I’m trying to tell her that, no, she can’t go swimming in every fountain we see, or Echo Park Pond or the LA river. And that despite what she thinks, she cannot do all the same things the big kids do. The other day she was playing in our front yard with some of her buddies from our block (ages 8 and 10 mind you!) and I turned my head for a second, only to look back and find her trying to climb atop the 10 year-old’s bicycle. Is it scary? Ya.
She is also really into hide and seek and takes hiding frighteningly seriously. She’ll stay still and quiet and hidden far longer than you would think physically possible for a toddler. At home its ok…although I have had the occasional fright when she’s discovered a new spot and I *really* can’t find her for a fleeting moment. At least I know she’s in this house! Of course, once she learned to open doors that opened a whole nother can of worms! The easy answer to that one: keeping all doors that lead to outside firmly locked at all times. Meanwhile, I’m desperate to convince her its not ok to do this at stores or other places, because she certainly tries! I’ve seen her hide in store shelves or behind hanging clothes while i watch. I realize with a shiver that if I had my head turned that milisecond when she did this, I’d be searching for who knows how long, while she remained hidden enjoying the game. Scary!
She is a big-time runner, too. She runs away for the thrill of being chased, and she will NOT stop even when you sternly demand she do so. The game is on, as far as she is concerned. And she is alarmingly fast. Her desire to be chased and to hide until she is found, even when we are outside our home, is probably the scariest thing right now. I’ve always cringed when I see kids on “leashes”… I’m still avoiding using one but I certainly realize now that those harness things do have a valid place in society, lol.
The photo that made my friend ask me this question in the first place, was one where my daughter is in a sandbox covered head to toe in sand. She is a kid who likes to get down and dirty. I don’t mind because at least she no longer eats sand and dirt! She went through a pica period where she was always putting stuff like that in her mouth. And every time we went to the park I had to worry about keeping her from eating the sand. That was not fun at all, and potentially dangerous too.
Luckily we seem to be out of that phase. So, as long as I don’t have to be taking things out of her mouth all day long, go ahead and pour that bucket of sand over your head, girly! I see other parents freak out when they see Lil lay down in the sand at parks. And then they wonder why their own kids are ridiculously squeamish about stuff.
But yeah, being a parent, even a laid-back one, certainly comes with a big dose of worry and plenty of fears. And while mine is only just turning 2 I can already see that when some fears are alleviated, new ones arrise as our children age and their activities change and evolve. What are some of your notable fears as a parent? What would you tell a friend who casually asked you the question she asked me? 
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