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I thought of this today as I was putting my 3-year-old son down for a nap. I had covered him with his blanket, kissed him goodnight, and was backing out of the room when we heard a sound.
A sound that has plagued us naptime after naptime.
A sound that made my son sit upright in bed, scream at the top of his lungs, run at me and begin climbing up my leg.
The sound....
....of death.... . . . . ....the ice cream truck.
Now, anyone that knows my child will tell you, he is scared of some very weird things, and no attempts to alleviate the fear ever help. I have shown him the truck through the window and fed him happy dreamland stories of kindly men and dancing bunnies holding Sonic the Hedgehog ice cream bars. I have even taken him outside, held him as we approached the truck, introduced him to the ice cream man, and let him choose whichever ice cream he wants. Nothing stops this strange fear.
He's not crying to get ice cream...he is genuinely terrified.
Other weird things he's scared of:
"Magic" sidewalks in the airport (but not escalators) Sprinklers Chihuahuas (but not large dogs, even though he has been mistreated by a large dog before) Ryu from "Street Fighter" (but not Blanka) Public toilets Afros The alarm clock
Please tell me that there are other people out there whose kids are goobers about some odd things.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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And heh, I remember those StH ice creams... *counts change*
I am scared of people in large groups, and tend not to walk on the cracks in sidewalks... Not exactly a fear, really, but I find myself actually paying attention to it, while walking, and sometimes a bit TOO much attention... hmmm what else? I have a fear of taking pills that I have been able to subdue enough to take aspirin, tylenol, my migraine pills... thats about it for pills, though...
And Carnies. Small hands, smell like cabbage...
I'm sure he will grown out of those things, in time, but I really am not one to give any sort of advice on the matter (especially since I have none). Best of luck to you, though! =)
Posts: 125 | Registered: Sep 2003
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To be honest, I'm with the kid all the way.
"Magic" sidewalks in the airport (but not escalators) - I'm lazy, so I have to use them, but that's not right! Sprinklers - Yup. Chihuahuas - Any dog that's trained to bite the rod and tackle is to be feared. Ryu from "Street Fighter" - Blanka is misunderstood. Public toilets - Don't even have to explain this one...fyi, if you are at the mall, try the department store bathrooms, much nicer than the general mall use rooms. Afros - probably due to Rip Hamilton. Alarm Clock - probably why I always wake up before it goes off.
So, he's far from crazy. Or I'm crazy too, one or the other.
The little girl next door is afraid of clowns, in a very funny way. We took her to a fair, where there happened to be a clown. She was excited to see the clown...until she got close. You can imagine the screaming. After we left, she asked me 'Why was I afraid of that clown?' Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Clowns. Terrified of them. Have been since I was just a little kid. I don't have any idea why.
Hospitals. No, not just hospitals, but any kind of medical environment and even talk about medical things. On the days that it's really bad, if I have to take my mom to a doctor's appointment, I have to get her to the right office and then go back outside, or I'll have a panic attack.
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I agree about both of those, littlemiss. The only way I could have my baby in the hospital is if no one would come near me with anything "unnatural"...meaning medical.
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I wrote a horror story in high school about an ice cream truck coming at night. Pretty freaky, if you ask me.
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Book! The ice cream truck used to come through my neighborhood around midnight every night. The guy lived there, but it was still very scary.
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Watch out. Next month comes the most feared of days: Friday the 13th. If you are one of the ones who vow not to get out of bed on such a day, you may be suffering from triskadeckaphobia, or, fear of the number 13. Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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My son was terrified of automatic toilets. We used to have season passes to Disney World, and he wouldn't use the bathroom because he hated the auto-flush.
Now that he's bigger, he just moves away more quickly, but will use them. Of course, now that he's a really big boy (7), he goes to the men's room by himself, so I'm not sure what he does in there. (We won't even go into my phobia about that.)
Posts: 230 | Registered: Sep 2003
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When I was younger, I was deathly afraid of escalators, to the point where my parents just stopped taking me on them. But that's because one got my pant leg and... yeah.. bad bizniz.
After a while, though, I just forgot why I always took the elevator instead of the escalator... Then I remembered and it was like.. Whoa! There was a reason. Cool. I wasn't afraid anymore.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I call this a phobia, but its not really a fear, just a revulsion. I can't think of a better word for it than phobia: jewlery, makeup, anything like that seriously repulses me. If one of my friends starts wearing jewlery who didn't used to I go completely cold to them and start avoiding them. I'm getting better about it, and if someone wears it regularly I get used to (meaning get used to making sure not to look at it so I forget its there). But yea. Not quite a phobia but I can't think of a better thing to call it.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Crowded parking lots. I'm don't think I'm chlostrophobic as I don't mind being around a lot of people, but crowded parking lots scare the crap out of me to the point where I just won't park.
Clowns have scared me as long as I can remember, as well, but I don't think that's all that uncommon.
I also have this strange fear of medical appointments or reservations. I have no idea why, but....gah, they're awful.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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My parents tell me that when I was a toddler, I was absolutely terrified of the asphalt of parking lots. They couldn't put me down when they got me out of the car. Apparently, I would scream and lift my feet as they tried to lower me. Eventually, they figured out that they could put me down on the lines that mark the parking spaces, and then I'd just follow them to the sidewalk.
To this day, I have an irrational fear of bees, wasps, and other stinging insects. I had the phobia long before I ever got stung, so I have no idea why I fear them so much. Anyhow, if I spot one, my pulse goes through the roof, I tense up, and sometimes I run. Classic flight-or-flight reaction. I've found that as long as the insect is far away and not moving toward me, I can calm myself down by breathing deeply. But if it gets anywhere near me, I will bolt.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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My little sister was afraid of grass the way you were of parking-lot asphalt, Shigosei. She wouldn't be put down on it and cried pitifully, and we never figured out why. She did outgrow it eventually, but being city girls, we didn't have to worry about it too often.
Posts: 471 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I too am scared of wasps and bees and will run screaming from them It's quite a funny site. I am also afraid of creatures that are so hideous I can't type the names of them without shuddering in horror- Baby flies... I hate them so much... despise the mere thought of those nasty creatures!
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