[Rsmom]

My DD turned 5 in November. She is a very intelligent, spirited child. Lately, she has become scared of...well just about everything. Shows (cartoons) that she's watched the same episode a million times--all of a sudden, they're too scary. I have to be careful when commercials come on (Disney Channel) because she'll say something is too scary/spooky. There's a book that she saw at Target and the cover did have a scary picture on it, but she saw it months ago and still talks about it. She saw it again recently (she purposely looked for it) and now says she's scared of Target. Even some music...regular music (not Halloween stuff) she'll say is scary.

It's just very frustrating. I try to tell her that "it's make believe" or "it looks spooky, but it can't hurt her" or sometimes I'll try to point out how it's more "silly" than "spooky". I don't know what else to do. It's constant. Every day it's something else.

Anyway...is this just another crazy phase that will pass?

 

[tanyam926]

I vote yes, it will pass.

Dh and I were just talking last night about how our kids weren't afraid of anything until they got around 4 1/2 to 5 yrs old. Ds1 is afraid of the dark and he is 7 (but hasn't always been), ds2 isn't afraid of the dark but seems to have started getting more spooked by things now that he is nearing 4 1/2.

I think it has to do w/the development of the brain and starting to think in more abstract terms. It seems like as they get older kids can start mixing ideas and experiences and think more in the "what if". IDK, that's my little theory anyway.

It might help if you just say ok and change the subject to distract from spooky things. Ds1 will often tell me at night that he is scared when he is trying to go to sleep bc he is thinking of scary things. If I try to convince him that it's just make believe or fantasy he focuses more on it. It works better if I try to distract him or give him other things to think about. For example, I tell him to think about what kind of bday party he wants for his next bday, or what computer game he wants to play tomorrow.

Do you think it would work if you tell her before you go into Target exactly what things you will look at and tell her you avoid all spooky or scary stuff? Give her something to look forward to, like help her make a little list of what you need and have her help you find the things on the list, get her popcorn, whatever you think will work. I love Target and in order to insure a fun shopping experience for me I always plan to go to Target around lunch time and get my kids pizza and a drink (we do this 2x/month). They are quietly eating in the shopping cart and I can look around and enjoy myself.

HTH and GL!

 

[Rsmom]

Thanks so much. I feel a little better knowing it's "normal". But...~sigh~ I hope it passes SOON. It's getting very frustrating.

 

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

So funny to see this post! We're going through the same thing here!!!! Everything is "tooo skeeeery." We just laugh it off.