The 'D' word

It was with much anticipation and excitement that my son began going to public school.  I was just as eager too.  The charade of packing his backpack, lunch and watching him get into the big yellow school bus somehow gave the both of us such delight.  At the same time, I was constantly anxious, watching out for signs.  Signs of being bullied or of being distracted, or for 'enhancements' to his vocabulary. Well, standard concerns a typical kindergartner's mom would have.

So, the day I saw a red flier sent home in his folder that said, " DRUG AWARENESS WEEK", I freaked out! At 5 yrs and 47 inches, he was still a baby to me, innocence personified.  It took me a long time, a few days in fact, to come to terms with the concept.  I battled with concerns about why schools were exposing kids to an area that is best left not mentioned for a few more years.  It somehow made me feel that this kind of exposure was going to make my son, who is now completely unaware of drugs, more curious and it would all come back to me, to battle with. Venting it out to family and even on Facebook, helped, though only a little.  One of my friends responded with her perspective of how this wasn't such a bad thing.  She was a close friend from back home, so I knew for sure that we had the same value system.  If it didn't bother her and she's happy with how her kids turned out, with similar inputs from their schools, it couldn't be such a worrisome issue. After much input from her, I came to terms with the situation.  ( It always helps to have someone share their experiences, to draw from.  I hope this website will be such a source to those that may need it )

Now, fast forward a year and a half almost and seeing those fliers doesn't disturb me at all.  It isn't that I've merely gotten used to them, but its what my son said last week as I was taking my daily dosage of Synthroid.  "Ma... is it a drug that you are having?"
"No.....its my thyroid medicine," I replied with a calmness that came naturally then.
"Yeah.......because Drugs are baaad", he drawled.
"Yes, that's right," I confirmed.  No more conversation was required.  The certainty he communicated to me with, comforted any doubts I'd had earlier.