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" I&amp;#039;m a first-time mom of a 15-month-old son, and I can&amp;#039;t help feeling scared about the world I&amp;#039;m raising him in. Some gruesome incidents have rocked our quiet, beautiful city recently, and I&amp;#039;ve had a hard time shaking this dark, looming rain cloud hovering above me. With all the TV reports about things like Internet predators and wars we&amp;#039;re involved in, I try to stay away from the mainstream news because it makes me feel depressed, but I can&amp;#039;t avoid it altogether. Sometimes I feel like we should move to a small mountain town to escape all the craziness out there, but of course I know that&amp;#039;s not feasible or even reasonable. Am I being overly dramatic or emotional? Am I normal? What can I do to help shake all the negativity and violence surrounding us on a daily basis? --K.C., 29, Boise, ID One night when my daughter was 4 months old, I was nursing her while watching the nightly news. Nothing unusually awful was afoot -- the same old wars/natural disasters/celebrity high jinks -- but I was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of absolute terror: I had created a hostage to fortune. I had brought an innocent human being into this enormous, complex mess of a world. I was flabbergasted. And even though my girl is now much closer to 15 years than 15 months, I&amp;#039;m still fearful of what may befall her. I&amp;#039;m told by women who have middle-aged children that you never stop worrying. There are certain quote-unquote problems that simply come with being alive, and this is one of them. Creating a life is our most profound human experience, so, yes, your being scared is indeed normal. And you&amp;#039;re right that escaping all the craziness isn&amp;#039;t feasible or even reasonable. Some places are safer than others, but nowhere is so safe that it guarantees nothing bad will ever happen. If you feel you&amp;#039;re actually obsessed about bad things that may befall your baby, or you can&amp;#039;t get these gruesome incidents out of your mind, or you experience extreme anxiety, consider seeing your doctor -- you may be suffering some kind of postpartum disorder. Getting an outside perspective would be well worth it, if only to set your mind at ease. Good luck with your new baby. Tell yourself what millions of mothers have said a million times since we were all living in caves and mammoth meat was a great treat: It&amp;#039;ll be all right.   Award-winning writer Karen Karbo is the author of How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great. She&amp;#039;s also a mom, a writing teacher, and a horse owner. Send your questions to her at: The Hard Stuff, REDBOOK, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019 or karenkarbo@redbookmag.com. Letters may be edited for clarity and length, and must include your initials, age, city, and state. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/mom-kids/advice/a1574/stop-worrying-hs/>