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Elijah's new Worst Nightmare
Yet another thing to record for posterity to share with him when he gets older- we have entered the age of irrational fears.
I was warned of this by Nana and Andy but last night got to experience it for myself.
Elijah is absolutely terrified that his bathtoys are going to drown, at least, this is our best guess.
It began last night when we entered the bathroom to start the tub; all of the bathtoys were scattered across the bottom of the bathtub and Elijah began to point and scream. Tears followed. I turned on the water and the screaming got louder. Andy suggested I pick up all the toys and put them in our toy basket. As the last toy was deposited in the basket- the screaming stopped but Eli continued to sniffle until I hung it on the hook safely out of harm's way.
Upon getting the kids in the tub I tried to offer them a few toys and the screaming began again as he scrambled about trying to pick up every toy and rescue it. I swear I've never seen him so distressed! Apparently he is afraid that any of the toys he cannot hold onto will either disappear down the drain or drown.
We finally settled at a cup and scoop for Evelyn and a boat and spongy star for Elijah. As long as all the toys were in someone's hands Elijah was fine but the minute Evelyn let go of the cup, Elijah began to yell: "Evie, cup! Evie, cup!" as he tried to pick it up while holding the boat and star under one arm. When a washcloth was added it could. not. be. set. down. Otherwise I got a soaking wet washcloth whipped at me by a frantic Elijah.
Thankfully this seems to be "normal." I had heard of such things (remember my fear of Jack Frost mom?), but goggled it anyway and found that other kids his age have such weird fears as "buildings with high ceilings" (one mom said anytime they went somewhere new her son would ask if it had high ceilings), a sibling's striped shirt, round food (plate, peas, nuggets), cake being squashed (another mom said it happens a lot in cartoons and her daughter runs from the room as soon as she realizes the cake is doomed), flies (Evie had a momentary problem with them as well: "Bugk! Bugk!"), and my personal favorite: the song "to market to market to buy a fat pig" because the child insisted the pig did not want to go home, it wanted to go to the sand pit...
While it's a bit inconvenient and makes me sad because I wish I could help him not be so terrified, it's also very cute in it's own way and will hopefully pass quickly. I only wish I could figure out what the trigger was...did he sit on a toy and it hurt so he doesn't like not being able to see them under the bubbles? Did he lose one down the overflow tube? I know a couple have dissappeared down there...I doubt we will ever know.
Oh toddler-hood, what a trip!
1 comments:
Another great commentary on the little lad.
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