I’m typing this one handed while rocking my sick little booger-head. He’s needy today and the fire alarm in the building went off and has completely traumatized the lad. Thanks to that, I have the idea of what i’m going to write about today. Oooo two hands, I let go, steady now. Anyway, my son has a strange fear of noises, not just any noises, animal sounds. It all started a few days after his birthday. He received this cool barn magnet that goes on the fridge and all these animal magnets. The bodies of the animals are cut in half and it’s a matching game, right there on your fridge. Every time you match an animals, it sings to you and then does the animal noise. This was great, Silas loves songs and animals and BUTTONS!! Anyway, after two days of play with this, we were matching up the sheep and it made the noise and he flipped. It was like someone had died, the end of the world sort of thing. So I held him and calmed him. This toy makes the noise one more time like a minute later if you stop playing with it. I had him all calmed down and all of a sudden “baaaaaaaa” and out came the tears again. I’ve learned that not even I can make the sheep sound. It’s moved on to other animals, cow is the worst one right now. Lemme get something straight though, you can say “moo” but you can’t like MOOOO. There’s a difference between the word for the sound and the actual sound. Sometimes he can’t even look at a cow in a book because he know it makes a scary noise, the sheep are ok with him again though. Anyway, the toy has since been turned off and it’s always something he looks at and he likes sticking the magnets on and off the fridge but I don’t dare turn it on. I just wonder what made that change in him and why he’d be that upset about an animal noise. He’s been hearing the cow noise since he was born, he’s had Mister Moo who’s a small stuffed cow (you can get it at any superstore) and he moos. Silas was even getting really good at mimicking the cow. All is lost and Mister Moo is lonely now. Anyway, anyone have any ideas as to why this is suddenly such a fear? it’s been going on since November!! I think he’s had a bad dream or something, who knows. My son is scared of moos though. The end.
No photo today, I’m too sick and tired and selfish and hungry (even though I just ate) feeling to do a photo!
As they grow their fears take on irrational turns…my lil one is now scared of soap. He is torn, cuz he loves his bath time..but when he sees the soap coming he will scream his poor heart out.
Sometimes I just skip it…others we endure through it…i don’t know why?
Thanks for the tip on whole foods, went to get cookies from there yesterday! yayy!
Can’t explain the fear, but can tell you that you are in good company. One theory is that it’s when they start having dreams they remember and for some reason it’s scary for them. It’s fun to look back now and those fears and we joke together remembering them:
Marlee (now 12) – her fear was cows. She definitely had dreams about them – she used to describe them.
Keely (8) – Skunks! I don’t know where she even saw one, but they really bothered her. At Disney World, she thought Chip and Dale were “kunks” as she called them. It helped her get over her fear.
Harper (5) – crabs. Still a very real fear to him, but we do talk about chasing one at the beach back to “him’s house.”
Brady (3) – snakes, and although that one makes sense, he thinks earthworms are snakes. It’s bad news here after the rain!
They seem to outgrow them in due time. Good luck!