Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Scaredy Cat

Things have a been a bit intense over at our house. Griffin has been
dealing with some new found fears over here and last night, he decided to go ahead and turn them into full blown phobias. Here are his latest terrors.

Nyctophobia
Fear of the dark
My poor son has gone wonky when the sun goes down.
We have gathered almost every lamp in the house
and placed them
lovingly in his room.
He even dodges shadow
s beneath furniture
and stares with horror out th
e window when darkness falls.
Daylight Savings
Time is his enemy.

Samhainophobia
Fear of Halloween
He has had it with all of the Halloween hullabaloo.
He is terrorized by the 50% off aisle
of masks and spider webs at any store.
All of our Halloween decorations
had to put in a box and then later
hidden in the trunk of my car.
He could not stand the thought
of a glittery pumpkin living in the closet.

Egyptphobia
This is a very rare phobia that has him paralyzed in fear.
He is afraid of Egypt, really his fear now extends
to the entire continent of Africa.
I blame this on a kid in his class.
For the month of September, he studied Egypt at school.
Some kid got a hold of him on the playground and
told him about the mummification process.
Now, he is afraid of his brain being pulled out of his nose.
He is afraid of the Pyramids, King Tutt masks, The Sphinx,
and the idea of any form of travel to Egypt.
The kid is ruined.

Pilgrimphobia
Fear of Pilgrims
This phobia does not exist.
I think that he just threw this one in
last night for dramatic effect.
In an attempt to comfort him yesterday,
I told him that Halloween was over and
now it was all about Thanksgiving.
The cartoon Arthur happened to be playing
and they were dressed as Pilgrims.
Griffin hid behind the couch and
very passionately announced that he was scared of them too.

All that I can do is be there for him with
a listening ear and a comforting hug.
I must try my hardest not to make fun of his fears.
You gotta admit, the Pilgrim one is a hard pill to swallow.

Must.Not.Laugh.

25 comments:

Tracie said...

I have a little Fraidy Cat at my house, too. Another reason why I hate Halloween.

Ducky said...

I'm not looking forward to this stage... I'll have to work really hard on how I respond/react wouldn't want to scar my kiddo for life or anything. Kinda weird to be 30 and have pilgramphobia, ya know.

Unknown said...

Ok the dark one and the Halloween one I get lots of scary stuff at Halloween.. but the pilgrims?? Well they did have pointy little shoes like trolls or elves do lol.. I know not helping... poor baby...

Unknown said...

I think one of mine is just embarking on this. She had her first real nightmare the other night, that a big black bug was on her/in her bed. and it was awful for her. and for us. hard to get her back to sleep. I tried to downplay it and kept telling her over & over, "Mommy & Daddy keep you safe." We'll see how it goes. I try not to get into it much when either of them do something like that b/c I don't want it to get out of hand. Hopefully it won't!

boots said...

oh man i used to love love love those books! thatnks for the awards- i'm planning to blog about them today, i have een SO busy.

Ally Wasmund said...

awwww he sounds precious leigh. i wanna give him a big hug!

Lee said...

I have two kids like that. I'll send them to your house, they don't get hugs over here.

mamma b said...

Ahh.. I rembember being little and having fears come up like that. It sounds like you are being a supportive mommy.
This too shall pass.

KristinFilut said...

Ahhh, irrational fears are entertaining. To this day, I have a completely irrational fear of vines.... Darn Scooby Doo...

Moooooog35 said...

Just tell him that this weekend you'll be celebrating Thanksgivinoween in Egypt in the dead of night with Pilgrims.

That should help.

Tracie Nall said...

I've got a little Scaredy Cat living in my house too....I'm hoping it is phase.

Sidenote-I had that Berenstein Bears afraid of the dark book when I was a kid...the pictures are emblazoned on my mind!

Danielle said...

My phobia is my daughter being afraid. This scares the crap out of me.

Unknown said...

Pilgrimphobia?!

Haha!~ That's a new one! :)

MamaOtwins+1 said...

Pilgrimiphobia is hilarious. I can laugh at my desk for you - he won't see me here, next to my pumpkin.

There's an award waiting for you!

Kimberly said...

The dark one, we just read that book, how funny. Mine is not so much afraid of the dark, but refused to go trick or treating due to he might scare someone and in return them scare him. Doesn't like change. Changaseataphobia is what we have on the bus. Ruins his entire day.

MJ said...

ooo - I would have had to bite my cheek really hard not to laugh at the Pilgrim fear.
It sucks - our oldest is scared of several things, and I am mean momma and tell her to suck it up - followed by a hug of course.
MJ
Dirty Little Confessions

Meagan said...

Well thanks, that scared me! I love reading mommy blogs but sometimes you guys make me think, "if I have kids I have to deal with that?!" So I did some research for you and me. Check out this link: http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/parenting-advice/kids-nighmares.html. It has great tips for helping your child get over all their fears. Better than the other link I saw that said take them to a counselor! Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Anonymous said...

hmmm... pilgrims do wear weird hats.

leigh hewett said...

yay

Mocha Dad said...

My son is terrified of the Halloween displays. I was a bit creeped out myself.

valentine said...

i loved the berenstein bears as a kid, a little off topic, but still.

i totally get the phobia of pilgrims. have you seen the size of the buckles on their clothes?

Beth said...

My littlest guy has had night terrors since the age of 2. So, I can relate. Nothing gets your adrenaline pumping like the sound of your beloved little son screaming in terror and pointing at the giant crabs he is literally seeing right in front of him, even though you know they aren't there. Hang in there. Glad you're seeing the humor in the situation too. Cheers!

Helene said...

My oldest son is going through this right now...he's frightened to death of the darkness. Daylight savings time is not his friend either. And he's been having nightmares too.

The pilgrim thing, though....hysterical!! You're a much better person than me...I don't think I could've held in the laughter!

Holly Lefevre said...

All those phobias...we have some of them...and I will not let me son read the rest of them. He already sleeps with every stuffed animal he can find a pillow (in place of me), a flashlight, a sock full of magical items, and we spray lavender mist to protect him..no therapy required over here.

Holly

Tami G said...

My son is really scared of dying..
it comes and goes. Just randomly he'll be scared to go to sleep because he's afraid he won't wake up. It makes me sad. There are some things that they just shouldn't have to be scared of....
(although as adults it is a real life fear, but he's 14, he shouldn't have to be scared of that)

My niece is scared of Santa Claus