In addition to the experience of grief, guilt is another common feeling that occurs after a serious injury. Many parents feel that they should have done something to prevent the injury. Others feel that God is punishing them for having done something wrong. In both cases, guilt naturally follows from these beliefs.
A Safe Home
Many times, guilt is linked to the expectation that we as parents should be able to keep our children safe. While that would be nice, we don’t have that kind of control all of the time.
The Guilt of Should
The feeling that we should do something is often connected to unrealistic or irrational beliefs. Challenge the idea that a parent “should be able to keep his or her child free from all harm.” While parents do their best to protect, no parent can be everywhere at all times.
Try to eliminate “should” from your vocabulary. Replace it with “I would like to…” or “I’ll try to.”