Your own mortality might be the underlying fear – but your love will live on in him
The dilemma I need to understand why I worry so much about my grandson. We have two much-loved children, long grown up, and now, late and unexpectedly, an adored grandson, our only grandchild. As a mother I have, of course, worried about my own children over the years – their safety, their health, their happiness– but not more than most parents. However, the worry I have for my grandson is on a totally different scale. I am petrified of something happening to him and by this I mean him dying. These thoughts consume me too often and may be triggered by something I read or hear, or simply by my own thoughts. There is no limit to my fears and right now he is just a year old and as fit as can be. Can someone be too precious?
Philippa’s answer A one-year-old grandson cannot be too precious to his grandmother. It is as though you have developed a phobia. Phobias appear to be irrational, yet they’re not something you can talk yourself out of – I’m sure that you’ve tried – and they can come with unpleasant physical symptoms, like panic attacks. I have tried to come up with some theories for you and if any of them resonate, that might help.
