Are you increasingly worried about your children travelling?

I will always worry more about my children, but I try to teach them to be mindful rather than frightened. Going to Europe, yes, hiking with a friend in a Taliban controlled region, no.

6 months after 9/11 I cancelled the trip to take my kids to Disneyland because I was afraid of flying with them to what I had heard might be a terrorist target. Instead we visited some friends in NJ and one of them was seriously injured in a car accident. My child is fine, but the irony didn’t escape me.

I’m not even increasingly worried about myself travelling.

Well, with sons living 3,000 from me in opposite directions, I have had to pretty much give up worrying much. I tend to worry more about their emotional states in any case.

As I said @dappled_leaves, I’m travelling myself and I’m not feeling freaked out about that at all. My children’s safety is somehow different (I get that isn’t rational). I guess I know I’m going to read alerts from the Department of Foreign Affairs and I’m cautious and mindful of my surroundings. Not that being mindful would help if you walk into a museum, and a gunman follows you in! It’s really the luck of the draw to a very large degree.

And yes, I agree @canidmajor. Being mindful is the key. Every time I see a news story about another terrorist attack, my stomach turns over. I know I’ll just have to make sure they’re informed about how to access info to keep them safe and that they check in so I know they’re okay.

Sorry, @Earthbound_Misfit – I confess I didn’t read that far in. But then, doesn’t it become a question of trust? There is not a difference in the level of threat for you and your children. There is only a difference in the reaction/ability of the person travelling.

@dappled_leaves I don’t think it’s a matter of trust – after all, how many of us can really withstand a terrorist attack, however able? I think it’s a matter of fearing more for your kid’s lives than your own.

^ that’s it @janbb. And I really do get that it’s craziness, @dappled_leaves. There is no difference in the threat level. @janbb hit the nail on the heat when she said “it’s a matter of fearing more for your kid’s lives than your own”. While I take a very hands-off approach to parenting now my children are older, I’m still a mama bear. Inside I worry about them and want to protect them. I just know it’s not my place to do that now.

@Earthbound_Misfit: I don’t think that ever goes away, that worry about our children no matter how grown. Mine are grown, and they still like that I feel that way. They roll their eyes at me, but they understand that I don’t overstep. Ah, kids!!!

@Earthbound_Misfit We never stop worrying about family and loved ones. But terrorism threats rate up there with lightning strikes and winning the lottery. Your odds are worse driving to work. But it’s okay to worry. We have some great people in our lives. (We also have some buttheads, but I don’t know what to tell you to do about them.)

@Earthbound_Misfit God help us all when the love from our mothers becomes a rational thing.

After 9/11 I made a decision to refuse to be terrorized. I will not live in fear. My daughter and her family moved to the UK and I am only sad that I don’t see them enough but I never even thought to be afraid for them. I guess my resolve has worked.
I should also add that my other daughter lived in Spain during 9/11. I wasn’t afraid then either.

My daughter is 27 and likes to travel as I have. I am less worried about international travel than I am when she goes to San Francisco for concerts. haha

Two months after 9/11 I got a round trip to Ireland for $200. I’ve traveled a bunch of times since, and I do admit it concerns me but it doesn’t stop me. My daughter is still elementary school age, so she’s not at the point where she is traveling on planes by herself (I know she can but she has not yet). It would concern me, yes, just like I am concerned they recently talked about targeting malls and we live 10 minutes from a major one. If I need to go there, though, I’ll still go.