This morning Aedan decided that he was scared. "I scared, mommy," he said and was crying the way he cries when he is not hurt but wants some attention. Up until recently things have startled Aedan but few have truly scared him and I find it interesting that he is really taken ahold of this newfound emotion. The book I mentioned a couple posts ago, the Ocean book that makes recorded sounds of creatures from the ocean, one day he decided he was scared of the humpback whale and the eerie song they sung. I've got to admit, I remember being afraid of humpback whales as a kid. We had one of those View Master toy picture viewers that you slide in those round discs and you look through the eyepiece and you see the picture in 3D. I remember we had one with all sorts of creatures, elephants, lions, etc. I remembered exactly when the whale would appear and I purposefully looked away to avoid seeing it because it somehow scared me. I think I was even scared during that one Star Trek movie with the whale. You know which one I'm talking about right? I don't suppose watching this movie has helped either:
Consequently I own a copy of it if any of you want to borrow it. And no I haven't shown it to my two-year old...
Well, being much older now I find whales amazing and beautiful but I always wonder how I would react if I came face to face with one. Anyway, I sat with Aedan and tried to help him identify his fears so I could help him address them and right off he said, "I not afraid a whale, mommy" but I know he is, he always says this as if he is either in denial or he is trying to appear macho, I don't know which. So, ok, he happened to think of the whale at that moment. He went on to try to tell me that he is afraid of 'noises' to which I think he was referring to noises going on outside. After a while of him trying to explain something else to me, he kept crying for "my mommy" and I asked him something I always suspected, "Are you afraid of being by yourself? Are you afraid of being all alone?" to which he solemnly nodded yes.
So we snuggled for a bit and I tried to explain to him that it is okay to be afraid and that sometimes mommy is afraid. That interested him enough that I had to tell him specifics. I think I'm afraid of creepy crawly things, particularly spiders, and would rather Neal dispose of them if he is around but sometimes I have to be brave enough to do it myself. I am afraid of falling down while moving at high speeds, for example in skating, skiing. I suppose that in combo with my terrible sense of balance doesn't help and is a big reason why I don't skate/ski. And I'm afraid of moose. I've heard too many horror stories and been too close to wild moose in the wilderness before.
Well now that we have our fears out in the open, welcome October!
This morning Aedan decided that he was scared. "I scared, mommy," he said and was crying the way he cries when he is not hurt but wants some attention. Up until recently things have startled Aedan but few have truly scared him and I find it interesting that he is really taken ahold of this newfound emotion. The book I mentioned a couple posts ago, the Ocean book that makes recorded sounds of creatures from the ocean, one day he decided he was scared of the humpback whale and the eerie song they sung. I've got to admit, I remember being afraid of humpback whales as a kid. We had one of those View Master toy picture viewers that you slide in those round discs and you look through the eyepiece and you see the picture in 3D. I remember we had one with all sorts of creatures, elephants, lions, etc. I remembered exactly when the whale would appear and I purposefully looked away to avoid seeing it because it somehow scared me. I think I was even scared during that one Star Trek movie with the whale. You know which one I'm talking about right? I don't suppose watching this movie has helped either:
I am afraid of spiders, too, although I've had to buckle up and take care of them also when hubby is in absentia. Sigh.
ReplyDeletePoor Aedan! Oddly enough, I'm uncomfortable with whale noises because they always make me feel lonely. I know it sounds weird, but when I hear one I automatically picture myself in the dark being surrounded by the noise. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteI also hate spiders. Zach went through a phase where he wouldn't kill them for me. He said he was forcing me to face my fear and deal with it. Needless to say it was an unhappy time in our marriage and he finally relented. Thank heavens!
It's amazing that both you and Aedan were afraid of whale noises, could it be genetic? I remember learning in a child development that fears could be gentic. From what I remember snakes, spiders, and mice have all been shown to have gentic factors. Whales?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny cause Kai has a "sleep sheep" that he likes to listen to for white noise. He used it a lot when he was a baby, now it's a comfort item. The noise he always chooses is the whale sound, it's supposed to sound similar to the uterus!
Chris tried to make me kill the spiders for a while too...haha!