Daniel has been fearless as long as I can remember, but as of late he seems to be recognizing that he is not indestructible and some new fears have been coming to the surface.
First off, suddenly he is terrified of the bath tub filling up too high. It can be an inch deep now and he suddenly stands up and cries for me to turn the water off. This is the same boy who LOVES to be tossed into a pool at rates of speed and turning radiuses that make my head spin. I've explained that the water can only go so high (if we let it, which we don't) before it would spill out anyway and that he is bigger than the tub, but he's not having any of it. If I distract him enough, and sit right at the edge, he'll let me fill it so there is at least more than an inch of water. However, last night I gave up and re-introduced him to the fun of showering. He seemed much happier…this from a child who HATED a shower just a month ago.
Second, we went to the park this past Monday and I was pushing him on a swing. I gave him the usual treatment, meaning I pushed him higher and higher and all the sudden it was mayhem. "I did not ask you to push me that high." "Stop pushing me Momma." "Too high." Those were some of the high pitched sentences I could understand coming out of his mouth. He did want to stay on the swing, but only be pushed to a moderate-slow level.
Third, I took Daniel to a Karate lesson. It was a private lesson I won through a competition at our local mall. I thought it would be a neat thing to try and since it was a one-on-one lesson, I just knew we couldn't go wrong. We walked in and some black belts were practicing and making all the appropriate karate noises. Daniel was fascinated, but he clung to me like glue and hid behind me while I filled out the paperwork. This from the child who wrestles non-stop with his daddy. We went to a private room with a male instructor who was great. He was loud, authoritative, knew his stuff and he was fun. I liked him right away. Daniel, on the other hand, was shy, kept looking at me, couldn't focus on the instructor long enough because he had to check to make sure I hadn't disappeared on him (as in every 5-10 seconds) and just stood there like we were all crazy. Needless to say, we'll be foregoing karate this year and may try to reintroduce it next year, if he's interested.
It's an interesting mix of new fears and I'm guessing it's just a stage which will pass!
8 comments:
Poor Daniel! It's so hard when kids become scared about something they were never scared of before! We've gone through the water thing and I was so confused!! I'm still convinced that our children are preprogrammed to keep us on our toes. :-) Give Daniel a big hug from us!
Don't you wish you could get in their little brains sometimes and figure out what's going on?
Poor Daniel :( Sorry you are going through this.
Interesting!!! Aidan began the fear of the tub being too full thing over the summer. . .we also have an insane of allll bugs (even fly's and those horrible stink bugs). I agree it is somewhat worrisome, but I think it's the age. I'll be happier when they outgrown this stage!
Sorry to hear that Daniel is having these fears. Since our boys seem so much alike, this is probably something I better prepare for too. Hope it all works out soon.
Poor Daniel. Hopefully it is just a stage. Matt has NEVER sat down in the bathtub yet. He loves the pool, loves to play with the hose but will not sit down in the bath tub....weird, weird!! Hoping he will overcome his fears quickly and be back to his happy fearless self!!
Isn't it funny how these things change as they grow and new fears develop where they were not before. It's all part of the fun of parenthood I suppose! :)
It is one of those frustrating things as a parent. "They were just fine yesterday with _______ so what happened between then and now?" Hopefully, he will sail through these new fears quickly.
And thanks for your comment. I told Craig that now I have had two women tell me that I need a pedicure.
Isn't it amazing how a child who is so brave and fearless at home changes in new scenery. I guess it is to be expected, but it always gets me tickled. I hope he overcomes his fear of the bath although I don't mind when the kids take showers either.
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