Dear Dumplin,
After the bee incident, getting you to play in the backyard is well… challenging. You’ve had a few freak out moments if something even brushes your arm. In one instance, you started screaming so loudly and freaked out so badly that your Auntie started to cry. A gnat flew by and you saw it out of the corner of your eye. It did not touch you. You screamed and started to cry.
“THE BEE THE BEE!!!! IT’S GONNA GET ME!!!!”
You ran inside and started to scratch everywhere and strip your clothes off. I had to grab you and calm you down. You took every article of clothing off and started to yell, “I need my medicine!!! Mommy, I need my medicine!” (You were asking for the anti-itch cream.) I pulled all of your clothes off, showed you there were no bugs, rubbed your skin so you could feel there was nothing there. You covered your eyes and breathed heavily. I rocked you until you calmed down. My poor baby! I feel so badly that you have to go through this. But now I wonder, do you have an actual phobia, or will you forget this as time goes on? What do I do now? Am I taking this too lightly? I’m not sure. I did some Googling and did not find what I was looking for. There were some articles about fear in kids but I wanted to read advice in instances where the fear is a direct result of something that happened. I’m not sure what to do next.
Your Uncle Seth helped a lot this weekend to get you outside. He gave you a pep talk before going outside. He told you, “There are no bees. You are safe with Uncle Seth. Repeat after me. You are safe with Uncle Seth.” And you know what? That worked! You were tentative at first but the next thing I know, you were running around the backyard like your normal self. You even went to the neighbors to play. I was so happy!
Fast forward to today, the tag scratched you inside your shirt and we had another freak out. I had to show you it was just your shirt. And you know what you told me? “Well take it off Mommy!” So I took it off. What else was I to do?
Love,
Mama
PS – If anyone has any advice for toddlers and extreme fears or phobias, please let me know in the comments. Thanks in advance!
I have a fear of bugs too. I’m not sure how it started though. I don’t have kids buy this made me think of a story about a little black girl who was afraid of bees but started making her own lemonade. After a bee attack, her parents had her research why bees are important. Not sure how old your daughter is but maybe you can get some children’s books about bees? I just searched amazon and there seems to be a few. I hope this helps! Here is the story about the girl.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/ten-yr-old-gets-60000-investment-shark-tank/
Thank you so much Toya! That is a wonderful idea. Even if she’s too young now, I can get the books and slowly introduce her to the idea. I’m so happy you commented. Thanks again!