My 5 year old is scared of a lot of things.
Recently, at the mall, it was the escalator challenge. Jadie is scared of escalators. Really scared. We’re trying to encourage her to face her fear without getting CPS called on us for forcing a terrified screaming child to ride the escalator when there are stairs right there.
My 3 year old is scared of nothing. Nothing at all.
Raena, the little bitty one, and I are at the bottom waiting to see if Daddy will be successful in convincing Stubborn McStubbornpants to ride it. Rae says “Jadie is scared of this. I’m not scared of it.”
I said “You’re not scared of anything. What about tigers? Are you scared of tigers?” I ask
“No.” she says, very matter of factly. “They will just sniff my legs. I’m not scared of tigers.”
I was pretty impressed. I turned it up a notch.
“Sharks?” I asked. “What about sharks – are you scared of sharks?”
“No. They will just sniff my legs.” she replies.
The visual is enough to crack me up.
“Mermaids?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m scared of mermaids.” she said. “They will EAT me.”
Um. Okay.
It occurs to me that in real life, I am often afraid of things I have no need to fear, and perhaps complacent about things I absolutely should not be complacent about. I’ve decided to try to adopt the mindset of the three year old.
