It's just as I expected. Last night's storm quickly converted our queen size bed into a family sleep arrangement resembling a sardine can. Imagine me, my pregnant belly, my body pillow, Ada, her stuffed piggy, and Rick in the same bed. Amazingly, we all fit and got through the storm. Thankfully, it passed fairly quickly and Rick was able to drop Ada back into her own bed so we could spread out for the few remaining hours before starting our day.
Having a bit of a fear of thunderstorms, still at age 30, I can understand why Ada would be inclined to join us for a bit more comforting and consoling during a loud storm at night. I'll admit I still inch closer and cuddle up to Rick when a big storm comes through. And I think I was in my early teens before my parents finally made me stop crawling into bed with them when I got scared at night. They remedied that quickly by saying, "Go sleep in your brother's room." I think I tried that twice. He offered me the floor and was so annoyed and uninviting that I was more scared of him than the storm. Habit broken.
I'm not sure what the best way is to make her less anxious during storms at night. The day before this big storm came through, we sat on the back porch and watch another storm pass us by so that Ada could see what was happening. I tried to explain lightening and thunder and rain. Someone told me the thunder was angels bowling in heaven but that didn't seem to help when I was little, and it's a concept way over Ada's head at this age. I tried to make it fun by saying "Crack, boom, boom, boom, rumble, rumble," all while laughing and eating lunch on the porch as the storm blew by us. Ada likes to yell at the storm when the thunder cracks. It's loud so she reacted by being really loud to. She screamed at it, not out of fear but more as a way of saying, "If you're going to be loud then I am too." Our neighbors found it quite funny, and it entertained Rick as he continued to install our new air conditioner above the back door.
Moral of the story: Some things in life can be scary. As parents, it's our job to teach our offspring how to be brave--which is not an easy task.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment