Connor and I had our library time this morning, which was fun. Connor enjoyed the books as usual, but the librarian tried something new today-- she made a graph of everyone's favorite color. Connor has apparently inherited my hatred for math, because he signed "Don't like. All done." Then he proceeded to look everywhere but the board she was using. He got back into it once we started singing another song. My child is funny.It's a good thing Connor has finally gotten over his fear of hats (Is there a word for that? Help me out, those of you with psychology degrees!) because those featured prominently in the lesson today. It used to be that whenever you put a hat on the kid's head he screamed like the world was coming to an end. His hatred of hats extended to other people wearing them, too-- he would cry and shake his head "no" if someone with a hat got too close to him, which was a problem in the winter time.
His home sign for hat to this day is flicking his fingers off the top of his head, as if he's grabbing the hat and throwing it off. As he gets older he seems to be a little more tolerant of this sort of thing, though hats that fit closely over his head still make him uncomfortable. He's thrown off some other phobias too-- he's no longer terrified of Elmo, though I can't say I'd blame him if that fear had stuck around for a while. Elmo is kind of scary.
It's so funny the things we fear as children; I have a distinct memory of being terrified of the drain in the bathtub because I thought I could be sucked down. I also didn't want to flush the toilet while sitting on it for the same reason-- good thing those automatic flushers didn't exist when I was a kid! What outlandish things were you or your kids afraid of?
~Jess
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10 comments:
Josh loves Elmo the Sesame Stree character, but Tickle Me Elmo - forget it. He screams like he's being tortured if we turn TME on!
Personally, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi scared me so badly that I wouldn't use the bathroom by myself for nearly 3 years. Fortunately, I was young enough that it took my parents a VERY long time to catch on. :)
My daughter used to be terrified of bald heads! I will never forget her reaction to my uncle when he took off his hat. She threw her arms up and back in shock and started screaming. It's a good thing her daddy isn't bald!
Fear of hats is called cocklaphobia... yep, I looked it up.
-Jing
Elmo is kind of freaky. I totally get that fear!
Nolan is our one with weird phobias. He is afraid of balloons, and grass.
Balloons are OK indoors, but if they move of their own volition they are considered "floating heads of death" and the boy goes into a panic like nothing I've ever seen before. I should get it on video.
Long grass (even a single blade) causes him to stop in his tracks and cry out until we remove the offending grass or pick him up to carry him over it.
At least life is never dull, lol!
I was scared of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi too! Those cobras....
Hmmm, I'm a mathematician! I can see a rift developing between us. Well, if it's any reassurance, bar graphs don't really float my mathematical boat, either.
When I was a kid, I saw an animated Dr. Seuss cartoon on TV that featured a pair of pants walking over this rather gloomy looking landscape -- just the pants, nothing else. Freaked me the heck out. My mother and I have never been able to figure out what cartoon that was, but that one image is burned into my brain to this day.
Oh, we laugh about this ALL the time!
Colin--screamed bloody murder if we had to go through a car wash! I'd have to sit in the back and hold his hand in the carseat while he screamed!
Emma--The back windshield wiper on the van. We were at the zoo one day, and a very large dominant male lion was roaring over and over again. Em was terrified that he was going to get out--the back windshield wiper apparently reminded her of that sound and she would totally FREAK!
Weirdo kids. Sigh. Me?? Oh, I was terrified of the Jack-in-the-Box restaurant sign--that big head looking at me in the backseat of the car. I'd hide so he wouldn't see me. Now THAT'S something to be scared of!
Kristin: Yes, that Tickle Me Elmo is FRIGHTENING. He sounds like he's abou to explode. I loved the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in The Jungle Book, but I never saw the movie. Maybe that was a good thing. I was scared enough of the bathtub and toilet as it was!
The Henrys: Aww, poor little girl! She wouldn't like my husband, then-- he shaves his head.
Jing: That is a really weird name. Makes me wonder what the latin word for hat is.
leah: Balloons? They do kind of look like floating heads of death-- especially the disembodied heads of various Disney characters that you see in the stores. I can see that.
Julia: You can do math so I don't have to. That Dr. Seuss cartoon sounds like it's based on the story out of The Sneetches and Other Stories called "What was I scared of?" and it's about, crazily enough, a pair of pants that walk by themselves and terrify the narrator.
Lin: Jack from Jack in The Box is kind of freaky looking. Especially if you don't like clowns.
~Jess
There was an employee of the company who makes TME that was fired because he made a batch of Elmo's laugh as usual and then say, "Who wants to die?" and they actually got shipped out and taken home by children. Can you say years of therapy?
And Chucky. You'd think I wouldn't have seen that at age four, but if you did you obviously never met my dad.
I hate Elmo. He is totally freaky. Luckily, Charlie has not been very impressed by him yet.
Charlie doesn't seem to have any weird phobias that I can detect, but my dog hate lampshades turned upside down. My husband says he just has a high developed decorating sense.
When I was growing up, I was always afraid of getting on the escalator because I thought it might grab your foot and suck it down at the end (and hearing some of the recent stories of Crocs vs. escalator, I don't think that was such an unreasonable thought).
Clowns have always creeped me out too.
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