Not scare me…
Sentence structure is a funny thing when it comes from a two year old. He’s got the right idea, but he’s just not quite there yet. “Here goes it” often comes out for “Here it goes,” “My do it” for “Let me do it,” and “Not scare me” for “I’m not scared.”
We have, it appears, a timid little boy. He was out playing by the flower bed at the front of the house while I sat on the porch. He saw a bug (“Dada, bug!”). I identified it as a wasp and decided to have the “stinging insect” talk with him. Big mistake. For the next three days, every bug that moved was “Hurt me! Hurt me!” Likewise, watching dad drive the lawnmower? Cool. Getting a chance to sit on the lawnmower with dad? Terrifying! Do you have any idea how loud that thing is?
Figuring out how to mitigate that timidness is a real challenge. On some level, a little bit of caution can go a long way. But, being afraid of everything is also counterproductive. It’s an issue that adults face — we mostly meet things we’re afraid of with skepticism or sarcasm rather than terror, but it’s no less fear… it’s just less obvious fear.
I used the elevator at the Eaton Centre the other day while my friends were using the escalator – I felt almost sick at the “sheer drop” with short sides – it just looked so steep. they might have been sarcastic – I was experiencing terror – seems so silly – like when I could not make myself go beyond the first level of the fire tower in Dorset.
I’m with Luke!