Silly question:
I have a horrible bee phobia. I totally freak out, my heart rate goes sky high, I get the sweats...and now that we have DS, when a bee is around him I almost pass out. Seriously.

I know this is nuts. I have been stung once in my life, didn't enjoy it, but I got over it. So where is this coming from? I've been like this as long as I can remember.

The problem is that most days I don't take DS outside anymore. The weather is great. He needs the outside. I can't do it. Sometimes we can get a few minutes in before they descend on us! I've been fine up until this last week. Now the bees are getting aggressive and aren't mellow anymore. We live in an extremely high bee/wasp area.

I don't want to pass this phobia onto my DS and I want to be able to enjoy the outdoors with him. But what to do? :gloomy:

At least you've been stung! I'm bee-phobic and I've never been stung! We have a butterfly bush- a very very large one too- that attracts stinging insects like you could not imagine. The bumblebees that come here are the size of cherry tomatoes, I've seen wasps that have three different colors and will kill normal honeybees! But with the nasties come yellow swallowtail butterflies, monarchs, hummingbirds, hummingbird moths which are sooo coool, and other nice things. I'm not about to chop down my bush, so I knew I had to get used to the "bad" things. I also garden for a hobby, so I've just conditioned myself over the years to not flip out every time a bee comes my way. DS and I had a close call with a honeybee that still cracks me up when I think about it. I was outside weeding and heard the bee flying around my head. It started flying frantically and went for DS, so I swung at it and must have made it disoriented because it flew into an impatien flower and stung it! It flew off and I stood there laughing because that bee had gotten so angry it stung a stupid flower and now its going to die because it wasted its stinger on it. Blah blah blah anyways- I'd just get out there and start spending time with the bees. You'll get used to them- trust me :)

I'm also really petrified of bees. To the point of not being able to calm down and think rationally.

I'm trying to work through it and its tough because of the instantaneous PANIC reaction I have. I stopped using scented shampoos/conditioners/lotions/purfumes for a number of reasons, but it helps make me less stinky and interesting to the bugs for sure. I also tried to pinpoint what I am so scared about. Turns out, I really just want to keep the bug where I can see it. I have bad visions of the bee hovering near my ear and me accidentally swiping it with my hand and getting stung unexpectedly. So... now I can be seen in public calmly covering my ears, scrunching my neck up and gently swiping over my head to try to discourage the bee. I probably look like a freak, but at least I'm not hightailing it inside looking petrified with my heart racing anymore! Its also been helpful to use other relaxation techniques to keep me from getting too upset and panicked- deep, steady breathing, for example.