Scardy-Cat!!!!

We all fear things or have feared something at one time in our life. As a college student, I fear doing poorly in classwork, or not being able to find a career once I graduate from college. Sometimes our own personal fears seem to be the scariest, but we all fear the same. I think back to when I was younger and the fears I had then, and now they seem so irrelevant. When I speak to my little sister and she tells me things she worries about, I have to keep in mind that her fears are just as significant to her as my fears are to me.

For children, fears are very common, and they range from small things like insects, to losing a parent or their homes. It's not completely negative for children to have fears, because in many ways it keeps them from possible dangers we may worn them about. We tell them to keep away from the stove because it can harm them, and they can manifest that into a fear that they'll soon get over once they're older and understand things a lot more. My little sister goes through bizarre phases of things she fears, and a 6 years old, some are common and some are not.

For infants and or toddlers, their fears consists of: loud noises, large objects, strangers, separation, and sudden changes. For kids of preschool years, their fears consists of: the dark, masks, monsters, and some animals. During early school years, their fears consists of: snakes, spiders, lightening and thunder, doctors, illness, shots, failure, and death. The best thing parents can do in these cases are provide a sense of security for their fears (because they tend to not consistently last forever), and in my opinion, answer questions that their children may not understand about the things they fear.

For my sister, and common for her age, she often fears the dark, sleeping alone, monsters, and big dogs. These are all things I was once fearful of as well. But she's gained some quite unusual and hilarious fears in my opinion. She went through a weird phase about being scared of getting bunions. She like to wear her favorite ballerina shoes but has grown out of them and they make her feet hurt, in an effort to get them to throw it away, someone told her that she would get bunions. She feared that she would look like an old lady, and cried when she put on her ballerina shoes because of that fear, but still never wanted to rid them. She also has become very well at faking sleep while other family members watch more "grown up shows" like dateline. And sneakingly watching them, she has developed fears of death and pregnancy. While many kids fear death, and they see it in video games and movies, its not common for many other 6 years olds to fear having birth. She doesn't completely understand it, but after watching a show on a lady who has sextuplets, she's afraid of birthing pains. She insists that she doesn't want to have babies, and tells me that even though I'm big, I shouldn't either. Even though its silly, I still explain to her that young kids don't have kids, and that she wont ever have to worry about such pains until she's older and really considers having a baby. And I let her explain to me that childbirth hurts, and because she fears it for herself and sisters, I reassure her of any questions and concerns she may have.