40 Things the Internet Has Told Me to Be Afraid Of

The internet makes it hard not to be a nervous person – and especially impossible to not be a nervous mom. This is a list of all the things I’ve recently been warned about via links, articles, and blog posts. I started linking to the source of each of these warnings but decided that I’d refrain from being part of the problem. If you’re really interested in what to be afraid of with each of these things, do a quick Google search. You’ll find more than you ever wanted to know. Or email me, I’ll fill you in.

I think many of these are overblown, and/or I’ve chosen not to worry about those. Some of them relate to things I don’t eat/drink/buy/do. A few of them I do worry about. But seriously, let’s just take a step back and take a page from my favorite parenting trend of all.

Things the Internet Has Told Me to Be Afraid Of:

1. Food that isn’t organic
2. Food that says it is organic but maybe isn’t
3. Brown rice
4. White rice
5. Baby monitors
6. Dressers
7. Sandy beaches
8. Olive oil
9. Processed food
10. Cow’s milk
11. Carrageenan – and, ice cream
12. Sunblock
13. Skin cancer
14. Co-sleeping
15. Not co-sleeping
16. Babywearing
17. Not babywearing
18. High fructose corn syrup
19. White bread
20. Wheat
21. Soy
22. Food dyes
23. Not eating enough vegetables
24. Eating vegetables soaked in chlorine/chemicals/dirt
25. Causing an eating disorder in my kid because I’m too worried about food
26. Children’s vitamins
27. Shampoo
28. Swimming pools
29. Sandbox sand 
30. Vaccinations
31. Declining vaccination rates and a rise in disease
32. Trader Joe’s
33. My pots and pans
34. Too much screen time
35. White noise for sleeping
36. Sleep deprivation
37. Lack of bacteria in my gut
38. Too much bacteria in my reusable shopping bags
39. Laundry detergent packets
40. Damaging my children by being a nervous parent

What did I miss? I’m sure there are dozens of additional things I should be afraid of that I don’t even know about yet.