NOW FEAR THIS!

So, we are going through this lovely little three year old phase called "Irrational Fears." It sucks. Big time. My daughter is afraid of everything. We were so excited to move in with my in-laws for the summer. You know, live in a house, with a yard, and a garden, and a dog. All that good stuff us apartment-dwellers are usually deprived of. Well, my daughter is terrified of the dog which means she won't go in the backyard. She is also scared of the lawn mower and won't go in the front yard if any of the neighbors are using one (which so far has been every day). Don't even get me started on bugs. To get from the living room to her bedroom, she has to pass the Grandfather clock. Everytime, she runs through at breakneck pace. Apparently, she is afraid it will chime while she's in the room.

Yesterday, it took us 45 minutes to get her into Grandpa's truck. This one we couldn't figure out. She has ridden in the truck a million times. There was just something special about this time, though and she just wouldn't do it. It probably has something to do with the fact that we had about a hundred errands to run and a lot to do. Kids have an uncanny ability to sense when something important is happening and then manage to ruin it.

"So," you may ask, "how did you finally get her into the truck?"

Well, I'll tell you.

It was a combination of three things: child psychology, gospel teaching, and bribery. I actually felt like, as parents, my husband and I hit this one out of the park. After trying to force her into her car seat (not recommended) my husband brought her inside the house to calm down her hysteria. I sat in the car wondering how to handle the situation.

An idea hit me (this is the gospel teaching part). Right now, she's really into scriptures and praying so I decided to take advantage of that. I went inside and suggested that we should say a prayer. I told my daughter that since Heavenly Father and Jesus love her and want her to be happy, if we prayed, they would help her feel brave and happy. After some doubt, she agreed. This allowed us to get her as far as the garage.

Here's where the child psychology comes in: I asked her to show me all the things on
Grandpa's truck that are just like the things on our Subaru (of which she is not afraid). She pointed out the steering wheel, radio, mirrors, tires, etc. Of course, she had to get into the truck to do this. Then, I told her that I didn't think her car seat buckles worked in the truck. We better test them out just to be sure. She seemed skeptical, but bought it. Now, she was buckled in but didn't want us to turn the truck on.

Bribery (it's a beautiful thing): We told her that for every horse she saw while we were running errands she could have an M&M. It worked. Little did we know that every person in this town owns a horse. Thirty five M&Ms later, we were home. With a peaceful, happy, chocolate covered three year old.

At least she isn't afraid of the sprinklers: