Mom NOT Logic

The Internet has opened worlds previously undiscovered to me. Worlds, I tell you! And after some serious research on my part-read: wasting time at work- I have discovered the ULTIMATE, the most stupefying oxymoron ever. And, for those that were dozing off or writing intricately-folded notes during 8th grade English, an oxymoron is "a figure of speech that contains two normally contradicting terms." (thank you, Wikipedia!) Here's an example: "living dead" as in The Night of...and here, for all of you perched anxiously on the edge of your seats to see what the Internet has turned up, is a website I visit often that has this amazing oxymoron as the title. Ready? MOMLOGIC. I am not quite sure what two words COULD be more contradictory, since we ALL, all of us mothers have some real blinders on when it comes to our children and logic. Even me. Or, perhaps, especially me. I can't figure out if these are harder times to parent to to the overload of information available, particularly in the form of terrifying stories, or if the tragic stories, warnings and information make our children safer, while simultaneously knocking years off of OUR lives. I try to make decisions, especially ones with regards to safety vs. freedom/independence logically, meaning that when Flipper goes outside to play, I realize that the odds that she will be kidnapped by a stranger are very very low. Approximately 100 kids a year are snatched by strangers, and the ending is usually not a happy one. But 100 is very very few, and so she is, in all probability, safe. But still I worry, the "mom" side winning out over the "logic" side. Actually, come to think of it, the "mom" side often wins. I know she won't starve if she hates what we have for dinner...but I still make sure that there is at least SOMETHING she finds palatable. I know that she has friends, is a good friend...yet have to sit on my hands and bite my tongue to keep from interfering in a playdate argument over Legos. between 5 year olds!! When will it end? Will it end? Or, will the rest of my life be marked by endless internal debate and the second-guessing of decisions? And then I will write a book, entitled "My Life as an Oxymoron" and invite many scathing comments on the second half of that word...the "moron" half.