Winter in Israel is rainy. And windy. And wet. And cold. And rainy.
We arrived in Israel in the middle of winter. A few weeks after the kids started school, the babysitter was fetching them and it was a really, really windy, stormy day. So windy that poor little Faith almost got blown away. Since then she has been scared of even the smallest gust of wind.
She is also terrified of storms, especially thunder. So winter is a problem.
We have explained to her that the rain, wind, thunder and lightning are outside and cant come in the house. We have explained that her bedroom is the safest room in the house since it is the shelter.
She still screams like she is being chased by an ax wielding maniac. She stands there, literally paralysed and shaking in fear. She has landed up in our bed a few times.
How do you get a child over this very real fear? Any ideas are welcome.
Poor Faith! I was extremely scared of the thunder as a child and well into my teens as our house was hit by lightening when I was 5. Knowing how lightening and thunder works helped a lot -as in the scientific facts
My youngest daughter, Paula, was terrified of storms when she was younger – she would shake, cry, sometimes even hyperventilate. To be honest, I don’t love them either!
I found that the turning-point for her came the night I put the ball in her court. It looked like a storm might be building and I asked her what SHE thought would help her deal with it… we brain-stormed and came up with the idea of making a “nest” with our duvets and pillows in the passage (no windows!) and bringing a couple of her teddy bears (and our dogs! She figured they were also nervous..) to sit in the nest with us. So when the storm came we did that. She picked out the spot that she felt was most suitable for our “nest” and we nested! It actually became quite a fun thing over time. The minute there was the first roll of distant thunder we would begin making our preparations.. building our nest, bringing some snacks, a couple of books… We had some really fun conversations in our nest! My husband thought we were quite loony, but it worked! We almost (but not quite!) began looking forward to our nesting nights. Somehow it broke the back of her fear.
I think what helped was that instead of sort of “resisting” her (our!) fear, we embraced it. We accepted that the fear wasn’t going to go away, so we worked on finding a way to live more comfortably with it. We pretty much changed it into a positive – a fun, silly, time together.
I like that idea of the nest, thanks Gill. I just hope the nest doesn’t turn out to be our bed.
Poor sweetheart! I hope you find a solution soon.
Just a thought – is there a way you can link it to her favourite movies… It’s a Star Wars battle or something?
Thank heavens the next week’s forecast seems to be clear. But I love the nest idea, Gill.
Angel, we tried telling her that thunder is Gd farting, she laughed, then screamed when it happened again. Maybe Gd playing light sabers is a better idea 😉