I don't know exactly when it happens, but at so
me point (after the age of 1, but before 2) the sweet serenity of a baby leaves and the very present reality of fear kicks in. For Ella, her first and only fear, thus far, has been of thunder. She is TERRIFIED! Not so much hysterical, but completely unsure and uneasy. When she hears the loud boom, she drops everything and runs with all her might to me, or Matt, or whoever might be closest. This is where she remains for the duration of the storm. Don't get me wrong, I love her to be close and I love the attention and stillness that we share during those moments, if I didn't know any better I'd think she was trying to get back in! But for the record, I do hate for her to be afraid. As a rookie mom the only thing I knew to do was just reassure her that everything was all right, it was just thunder and it was outside and she is safe.
me point (after the age of 1, but before 2) the sweet serenity of a baby leaves and the very present reality of fear kicks in. For Ella, her first and only fear, thus far, has been of thunder. She is TERRIFIED! Not so much hysterical, but completely unsure and uneasy. When she hears the loud boom, she drops everything and runs with all her might to me, or Matt, or whoever might be closest. This is where she remains for the duration of the storm. Don't get me wrong, I love her to be close and I love the attention and stillness that we share during those moments, if I didn't know any better I'd think she was trying to get back in! But for the record, I do hate for her to be afraid. As a rookie mom the only thing I knew to do was just reassure her that everything was all right, it was just thunder and it was outside and she is safe.Well, last week our SoSo had her friend Mary in town. One night we all went out to eat at the Mexican restaurant. We hadn't been sitting for 10 minutes when the horrific happened...it started storming. The thunder hit and Ella's eyes popped open bigger than silver dollars. She threw her arms up and grabbed Mary around her neck so tightly it could very well have cut off her circulation. Mary just simply replied, "Ella, did you hear that? It was the angels bowling." Now I'm reasonably sure Ella has no idea what bowling is nor has she even seen it, but she was intrigued. It thundered again. Throwing her hands up in the air and clapping, Mary said, "it's a strike!" Ella began clapping too. To this day, almost a week later,when Ella hears the thunder she no longer trembles or runs, she throws both hands in the air shouting, "STRIKE!! Angels bowling!" Thank you Mary. It never occurred to me to take something that causes fear and turn it into something good, fun or even exciting. It's a novel idea really and worth all the money in the world to watch her celebrating during a thunder storm! The above picture is of her doing just that.
This is her activity during the remainder of the storm:
6 comments:
First of all, I have never heard of the "angels bowling" thing, but i love it...even for myself!! Second, look at Ella with her big girl bed...she is sooo cute!
its funny what you said about kissing everything...it is so true. i ask her to feel this book that has fuzzy stuff in it and she kisses it. i ask her to repeat animal noises as we look through a book and she kisses it. you try and take her picture and she tries to kiss the camera. it was just so funny to hear you say that and know that its all kids!
I love this blog. It made me smile. And I just noticed the Mother's Prayer on the side. It's so sweet! Ella seems like a sweet sweet girl. I can't wait to meet her. I noticed that we're all commenting on each other's blogs at the same time of night. We should just all get together IN PERSON with husbands and babies and hang out! Much easier said than done...
abby she is just TOO much!!! i want to give her a huge hug! and if bennett starts to show signs of the same fear, i will def use this as an explanation!
That is the cutest thing ever. What a great idea! That is a piece of advice for all fears... just make it something fun! Thanks for sharing!! She is adorable.
Such a precious story! I love the idea of "angels bowling" & turning something scary into something familiar...I'll keep that in mind in the future!
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