Few things a mother’s love can’t soothe
Published 10:10 am Wednesday, November 11, 2015
It’s not that I’m scared of spiders. I’m not. I have a healthy respect for them, so much so that I envision using a flamethrower to kill each one I see, regardless of what room of the house I am in. Again… let’s be clear… it’s respect, not fear.
Friday marks yet another appearance of a Friday the 13th. And, as usual, there will be the onslaught of stories about phobias, bad luck, myths and the unnecessary movie marathon of all the Friday the 13th movies, including the one where Freddie apparently goes to space.
As a developing parent — yes, that is a term I have coined for parents who are still learning, or having parenting techniques beaten into you — I have been fascinated with those things that frighten my children.
It might be the dark or weird noises that frighten them. It could be bugs or meeting weird family members at family gatherings (note: that one happens quite often and, if you knew my family, it happens every time we get together).
But, regardless of the fear I have also learned that there is absolutely nothing I can do as a parent to defeat that fear for them. I have shown them the closet with just clothes hanging in.
I have proved to them there is nothing under their bed except for that one lost sock and a dust bunny the size of a baseball.
I have turned the floodlights on outside during a storm to prove that rain is in fact just water.
Again, all of this does little to calm the fear.
Then again, and dads of small children, there is one thing that does work. Mom.
No matter the worry, no matter the noise or lack of light, a mother’s loving embrace seems to calm even the most savage of beasts.
Despite my use of logic, explanation and proof, nothing appears to the trick any better than a hug, a warm, calm word and maybe a few minutes of rocking in the chair.
As someone who is well above the age of worrying about what lives in my closet, I can understand just how much a mom can help calm a fear. I remember when Stephanie and I were expecting our first and I had every doubt in the world, my mother was able to say the right thing at the right time to bring my anxiety level back down to a manageable boil.
I remember thinking that being called a “momma’s boy” was an insult, but these days, as the father of three, including two insanely active boys, I couldn’t think of a better compliment.
Now, if only my mother would come to Vicksburg to kill that spider for me.
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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. Email him at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com.