What do pumpkins, tape and vacuum cleaners have in common? Sydney is afraid of them. Our bold, brave daughter is usually quite the Marco Polo, but when it comes to these three things, her curiosity and fear collide.
I put 'sticky paw tape' on the bottom stair to keep Norton from expressing his sibling rivalry. It also keeps Sydney away. She approaches the tape, pokes at it, then starts to whimper. She takes the same approach with her pumpkin (named Jack, Jack Sparrow). It's obvious Syd is excited and wants to explore, but something triggers her whimpering and quivering. It's the same with the vacuum cleaner, only she doesn't get real upset until the vacuum cleaner is turned off.
The 'books' say to take the fear serious and comfort the child. Then help her learn about the object she fears. I found quite a bit about babies' fear of vacuum cleaners, but am not sure what I will find about tape and pumpkins ...
I can only imagine how vast the world is for an almost 10-month-old and I am surprised she is not anxious about more.
I was going to post an old photo with this post but the Photo Uploading tool is unavailable. I would draw a stick figure of Sydney but my pen just keeps smearing on my computer screen.
Speaking of pens ... I am searching for a Pens for the Poor charity. We have more pens (in part because Brian tends to pick them up naturally like Velcro picks up lint) then two writers who type on laptops need.
2 comments:
Neil was afraid and is still a little afraid of public toilets! I think the loud flushing bothers him. I didn't find anything in the books about that one! Some public restrooms are pretty scary!!
lilly doesn't like the vaccum either. i have to hold her the entire time and that is quite a workout!
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