My mum was a smoker. She died suddenly on Christmas Eve in 2010 from nonsymptomatic pneumonia which was ultimately down to her smoking.
I used to smoke. I stopped the moment I found out I was pregnant with Maxi and I only have ever smoked 1 cigarette in over 9 years from the moment that I found out I was expecting. However, both my mother in law and father in law smoke.
I NEVER WANT MY CHILDREN TO SMOKE. But whilst they are young I do not want them exposed to other peoples second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke is made up of a mixture of gases and particles and contains over 4,500 chemicals of which over 50 are known to cause cancer. Did you know that breathing secondhand smoke can increase the risk of getting lung cancer by 24% and getting heart disease by 25%. You can find out more about this here.
October is also Stoptober and even though we are halfway though it your stoptober could start today. It is never too late to start stopping smoking. Why not start now. I know that stopping is hard, but you owe it to yourself and your family to give it a try. There are plenty of resources available on the NHS to help you stop smoking, including the new stoptober website. And if all else fails there are always electronic cigarettes from places such as the Electronic Tobacconist. But remember behaviour breeds behaviour and children of smokers are 90% more likely to become smokers than children of non smoking households. That in itself should be a compelling enough reason to stop.
I have written about talking to my boys about the dangers of Smoking over at A Thrifty Mum. I do hope that they grow up to be non smokers and that they never have to become addicted to nicotine. For them it is very black and white. If something is so bad for people they want to know why it is still for sale and why anyone can buy it. Children can be very wise sometimes.
My mum at my Niece’s Christening
This post is brought to you in conjunction with the Electric Tobacconist
