I'm Not Worried....Okay, maybe just a little

I've talked before about my worry wart nature, the one that became ten times worse after I became a mom and then probably 20 to 30 times worse after losing a husband in an accident.  I try not to.  Really, I do. I pray about it.  I try to turn things over to God.  But still, I worry.  I'm a worrier.  


So when I just saw a facebook status by Real Simple asking readers what they've stopped worrying about as parents, I felt the urge to write this post. Because while I am still a huge worrier, there are some things that I have managed to give up worrying over in regards to my sons.   


Here are just a few that come to mind...


~The fact that Devin wants to wear shorts 365 days of the year.  Okay, I haven't completely let this one go but I no longer worry myself to death over whether or not he's going to get cold and what kind of mother people are going to think I am for letting him wear them when it's only 50 something degrees outside.  


~That every croupy cough or fever they get is something serious and potentially fatal.  


~That making weapons out of everything from construction paper to coat hangers means they are going to grow up to be murderous psychopaths.  It's just what boys do.  That whole Y chromosome thing, ya know?  


~That I'm not bestowing enough wisdom and life lessons upon them.  Actions speak louder than words and while I'm nowhere near perfect, I try my best to set good examples.  


~The fact that I'm not ever going to be a June Cleaver kind of mom.  I can't sew, rarely cook anything from scratch, and leave the beds unmade more often than not.  But I always make it to their ballgames, awards ceremonies and field trips/school parties.  Well, at least Dracen's.  Devin is way too cool to have mom tag along on his field trips now.  And I've quit worrying about that too.  


~About whether or not Dracen is going to school with magic marker tattoos on his arms or in this morning's case, all the way around his ankles.  There was a time when I would have been frantically trying to scrub that off before time to leave for school.  But today?  Today I just laughed it off and told him to have a good day as he ran up the driveway to catch the bus, while carrying his shoes!  


~That they argue with each other too much.  Okay, I didn't say it has stopped driving me insane because it most definitely has not. But I no longer worry about whether or not they really love each other because I know that while they fight like cats and dogs, neither of them would know what to do without the other one.  

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I will now refrain from making a list of all the many things I still worry about as a parent because that list is neverending.  I don't really believe it's possible to ever completely stop worrying about our children.  


Devin heard the term "helicopter parent" awhile back and now every time I tell one of them to be careful or stop doing something before they get hurt, he looks at me and whispers, 
Helicopter parent.  But I am so not.  


I don't hover. 


Okay, sometimes maybe I do.  But it's only for their own good!


So what about you?  What parenting worries have you managed to let go of?