Joshua has a t-shirt that says “Insects Don’t Bug Me” and has a picture of a bug on it. Well, let me just say, that shirt was a hand-me-down and is also a big Liar McLiarkins. Joshua, at five, is terrified of insects and all bugs in general.
Now I am not a big fan of bugs. However, the only bugs that really scare me are those giant bumble bees and giant spiders. However, if I encounter either when my kids are around, I manage to play it cool.
Nevertheless, Joshua some has a raging case of Entomophobia, the fear of insects. In fact, he is currently hiding in our office with the door closed, because he swears he saw a “green grasshopper” in our living room this morning. I did not see said grasshopper (and yes I DID look), and I am pretty sure if there were a grasshopper in our house my cats would be going kee-razy trying to catch it. After all, grasshoppers are much more fun that the usual houseflies they go after (which incidentally, Joshua is also afraid of.)
Going to and from the car in our yard, Joshua will scream bloody murder if he sees even a small moth or a butterfly. And you wanna give the kid nightmares? Make him go outside at night when there are lightning bugs. Bobby recently had to carry him kicking and screaming across the yard on the first night the lightning bugs came out and we were returning home from somewhere. It is both supremely annoying and mortifying.
Obviously Bobby and I have tried to convince him that butterflies and fireflies aren’t scary, that grasshoppers are harmless, etc. But he’s not BUYING it. So before he goes to kindergarten in the fall and throws a hissy fit over a housefly and becomes the class freak, anyone got any advice on how to fix this little phobia?
Since Kate spent Friday night catching lightening bugs, I don’t have many words of wisdom. However, given the fact that she was trapping said lightening bugs in an empty beer bottle, we have our own set of issues to deal with.
Additionally, I have NO IDEA where Joshua gets his flair for the dramatic.
Ellie actually picks up spiders and brings them to me, much like a cat presents its owner with a dead mouse. So I got nuthin.’ Sorry.
Maybe find a museum with an exhibit on bugs? If they are dead and behind glass, he may be more inclined to study them and they may lose the scariness.
Also, there are just a ton of kids movies about bugs that portray them positively (like the ant in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids or A Bug’s Life). I would definitely be tracking those down and playing them over and over.
OH my goodness, LATIN! The college education pays off.
and
The bug must die…go Josh!
omgosh…i thought benji was the only one! we *did* convince him that lightening bugs are okay and he catches them now. HOWEVER, he is still afraid of flies and one time freaked out over fluff from a couch pillow because he thought it was a bug.
my 2.5 year old sees a bug and says “Mommy, I’m going to kill it!” So that’s always nice.
I would love some advice when you find it! My two year old has recently started flipping out over the sight of any bug. I had to stop taking our lunch to the pool to eat there because the ants at the picnic table just about gave her a nervous breakdown! We try to tell her all they do is “tickle” but she ain’t buyin’ it!!!!!
Maybe investigate WHY God created bugs, and how the bugs help to feed God’s creatures might be a good idea. Like birds eat bugs to live, and bees help flowers to grow and make delicious honey.
But, we’ve never had problems with bugs… unless you count my niece EATING them as a young child.
Why does the song I HATE BUGS comes to mind… I remember doing that song with puppets on mission trips. I think Joshua has a new theme song!
when tom and i first started dating i was, naturally, totally creeped out by snakes. actually, i wanted to scream and run waving my arms like a wild woman. come to find out he’s a herpetologist wannabee. no that’s not someone who studies herpes but rather amphibians AND reptiles. geez… what luck. now i like snakes and hold our pet corn snake, martin, when ellie gets him out.
here was/is Tom’s strategy. i’ve watched him work his magic on countless, unknowing phobics. when my eyes would begin to bug out (don’t read that part to joshua) and i would start my usual cringing, tom would say calmly… look though at how cool this is. i remember him holding the snake and being captivated with some cool thing about it. he would point out how amazing his eyes were (or something like that) and ask me if i wanted to feel how smooth and soft his skin was. you get the picture.
he never even moves any of his herpy friends toward someone who is showing discomfort but offers and waits. he is so taken with these creatures and describes how facinatingly created they are that you can’t help but want to discover too.
so… hmmm…. maybe read some books on the very cool parts of bugs… adding “can you believe how creative God is in making that fly’s eye like that?” look for pictures of wings on the internet, and work up from there. my kids like to put the dead bugs they find under a stereoscope and are blown away at the up close shot. that would be down the road i realize but you and bobby could begin the journey. it might be contagious.
We have a son who saw an article on tornadoes years ago in a Family Fun vacation type magazine, and he went ape over tornadoes…and not in a good way. He would closely inspect the skies every single time we took him outside (he was about 4) and he would get soooo upset and scream and hide, etc, when he’d hear the wind! Drove us insane! No amount of cajoling helped. Nothing. He was about 7 or 8 before he stopped this. He has anxiety issues to this day, and he is 20. My advice is to just make an appointment with his pediatrician, or just give him/her a call and discuss the issue with Josh and his terror of anything buggie…he or she may have some tricks up their sleeve and if not, maybe there is something you may be able to do to soothe Josh when he gets afraid. In my experience, it never helped to belittle the situation by saying, “Oh come on, see how cute it is?” Ryan didn’t buy that one, and I doubt Josh will! I had better luck telling him that I was right here for him to hold onto when he got scared and would let nothing hurt him. But, like I said, he still has anxiety issues—and he is 20 in September. Good luck and keep us posted!