Irrational Fears
I'm not a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan films. In fact, I think many of the "surprises" in them are quite silly and do not make much sense if you think about them too much (such as in The Village - did anyone else slap their head in frustration, thinking, "That's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back!" after watching that movie?) However, M. Night does have a knack for coming up with some pretty creepy imagery. And that brings me to my irrational fear. Remember in The Sixth Sense (a movie of his that I actually liked), when the ghost of that little girl grabs Haley Joel Osment's ankle from under his bed? Well, if I get up at night from bed for any reason, it takes the sheer force of my will to keep from jumping into the bed to avoid having my own feet grabbed by a wayward ghost. I'm 33 years old. I know that to be afraid of something from a movie I saw maybe 7 years ago is completely ridiculous. Yet the fear is there just the same.
Vika, I've recently learned, is afraid of dragons. She thinks one may fly into her room at night and try to take her away. My assurances to her that dragons don't live in California, and that if they did, they would probably have a hard time fitting in through her bedroom window don't seem to alleviate her fears. Maybe if I show her The NeverEnding Story, Falkor the Luck Dragon will do the trick?
Eamon is afraid of loud noises, including Vika's wails of displeasure. The other day, he hit Vika because she had one of his toys, and when she started crying very loudly (she had to make sure Jeff and I could hear her, after all) Eamon got so startled that he began crying as well. He said she scared him. I don't think he has a future as a very successful bully.
Jeff, of course, is too practical to have any irrational fears. So, unfortunately, I am the only crazy adult in the household. At least I've gotten over my fear of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.
Do you have any irrational fears? A sinister being that you are sure lurks in a murky lake, searching for it's next victim? An invisible witch that lives in a dark forest, waiting to snatch up lost campers? If so, please share! Help me know that I'm not the only fruitcake out there.
Vika, I've recently learned, is afraid of dragons. She thinks one may fly into her room at night and try to take her away. My assurances to her that dragons don't live in California, and that if they did, they would probably have a hard time fitting in through her bedroom window don't seem to alleviate her fears. Maybe if I show her The NeverEnding Story, Falkor the Luck Dragon will do the trick?
Eamon is afraid of loud noises, including Vika's wails of displeasure. The other day, he hit Vika because she had one of his toys, and when she started crying very loudly (she had to make sure Jeff and I could hear her, after all) Eamon got so startled that he began crying as well. He said she scared him. I don't think he has a future as a very successful bully.
Jeff, of course, is too practical to have any irrational fears. So, unfortunately, I am the only crazy adult in the household.
Do you have any irrational fears? A sinister being that you are sure lurks in a murky lake, searching for it's next victim? An invisible witch that lives in a dark forest, waiting to snatch up lost campers? If so, please share! Help me know that I'm not the only fruitcake out there.
I am so happy that I am not the only one who never got over the Sixth Sense. I swear to you it gave me nightmares for months and even now, years later I remember it when one of my kids cries out at night and I have to get out of bed. Now Jason and the bloddy horror flicks does nothing for me.
On the dragons, I used to be afraid of them too, but my mom showed me Pete the Magic Dragon and I loved him and gradually that fear went away. Another one you might try is dragon tales, because it's really cure little dragons and it's not scary. I bet you could get it on DVD off of Amazon.
Also, since I de-lurked anyway, I've loved hearing your adoption story. Can I ask you a question though? Ok two then... ;)...did you change your son's name when you adopted?
hey Melissa! Thanks for de-lurking! In answer to your question, we kind of changed our son's name when we adopted. We gave him the first name of Eamon (chosen by my husband) and kept his Russian name, Nikolay, as his middle name. We didn't intend to keep either of our children's Russian names, but after we met them, we felt differently about it, especially since they were older.
Thanks for the dragon suggestions. I'll look into those movies!
chou-chou here, also de-lurking.
i love this post -- i haven't even seen Sixth Sense, but i still have that fear. not all the time, but i'd be lying if i didn't say that once or twice i've been known to do a little jump into bed from a "safe" distance away.
silly, but true!
My two biggest fears are quicksand and seeing someone behind me when I look in the mirror (someone who isn't really there, of course!). In fact, my skin is tingling right now just typing this! Too many movies as a kid I guess.
Jenni forgot to mention her fear of clowns! Thank you Stephen King!
I have this thing about seeing ghosts at night..if I am watching tv downstairs and I have to shut all the lights to go to bed, I RACE up the stairs and jump into bed. If I get up to go to the bathroom during the night, I have to look down the whole time because I'm afraid I'll see a ghost in all the mirrors. I also have an irrational fear of aliens, but that doesn't surface too much in daily life.
And the only saving grace about the Village was Joaquin's deliciousness. I'll rewatch the part when he professes his love on the porch over and over.
Thank you Jenni for the answer. I'd been reading and had always thought his name was Eamon but then I saw a post where you said Nikolay, so I was curious. I like both names though.
You are talking to the queen of irrational fears. I would not enter a haunted house before I was a teen and I refuse to go in them now- including the ones at Disneyland. I never watch horror movies. The ones I have seen make me ill for weeks. I am good as long as I stay away from anything that is trying to scare me.
Good idea to show The Neverending Story. That was my all time fav show as a kid. And you can't help loving that dragon.
I know I have many irratioal fears, that I can't even remember what they are - cause I guess to me they aren't irrational! lol
Love hearing those Vika and Eamon stories!