Scared Silly

Rachel has decided that she's scared of bugs. I think bugs scare her more than anything else. (Although she wasn't a big fan of the cat that was following us down the sidewalk this afternoon.) In the past month we have had several instances where she's been frightened of bugs. Here are some I remember:

• One afternoon Rachel woke up from her nap and was chatting away. I usually listen to her chatter for awhile (it's so cute) and then go get her once she starts calling my name ever so sweetly (and it really is sweet). Well, all of sudden over the monitor all I can hear is her screaming. So, of course, I run up the stairs thinking the worst. As soon as I get into her room I can see that her right arm is shaking like crazy. So, I'm thinking she's broken her arm. She must have stuck it through her crib and done something weird with it. I get closer and she's saying "bug, bug, bug". I try to figure out where the bug is and soon discover that she did just had a hair in between her fingers, but she was convinced it was a bug. I don't know where that came from...
• One Sunday we are waiting for church to start and I notice a ladybug on the ground. So, I scoop the ladybug up with a piece of paper and show it to Rachel. She was pretty fascinated at the cute, little bug that was walking on the piece of paper. Well, pretty soon the ladybug reached the end of the paper and spread her wings to fly. So, what does the ladybug fly to? Well, Rachel, who is only inches away. The ladybug landed on the front of Rachel's dress and she freaked out. So, I shooed it off of her dress. But then Rachel saw it again on the floor. I tried to shoo it away some more and eventually it was out of her line of sight. I guess I won't be showing her any bugs while we're waiting for church to start...
• This morning I was taking a shower and as usual Rachel is roaming around upstairs. She loves to walk around in my high heels and put on Andy's hats. Silly girl! Well, all of sudden she's running into the bathroom screaming "BUG". I couldn't exactly get out and save her from the bug (which was no where in my line of sight), so I just told her to stay in the bathroom with mommy. I don't know where the bug was. By the time I got out of the shower it was long forgotten. Chances are it was a piece of lint on the floor.

Sometimes you just have to wonder where kids get their fears from. It's not like Andy or I freak out when there's bugs. I'm sure I had my moments when I was younger though, but nothing that Rachel has been around to witness. This past summer she used to love to walk around and find ants to smash. So, why all of a sudden a fear? Who knows, but I guess one day she'll get over it. :)