Fears

It's funny to find out what your kids are afraid of.  At around age 2, Violet started being scared of "big monkeys."  She had no problems with lions and bears and the like while we were at the zoo, but she would not go near a chimpanzee to save her life.  There is also a stuffed gorilla at the Museum of Natural Science (taxonomy stuffed, not teddy bear stuffed) and she wouldn't even go in the hallway where it stood.  I'm not sure what prompted this fear, but it was pretty clear.  She's a little better about it now, but she still keeps her distance at the orangutan exhibit.

And since Charlie has turned 2, his fears have been made known as well.  A few weeks ago we went to get the mail and there was a dead cockroach on the porch and Charlie would not go outside.  I can relate to fear of cockroaches, but even I was okay just walking around this one.  Charlie, however, made me hold him and looked at me very seriously and said, "I am scared of it." Violet has always been a talker, but she turns silent when she gets scared, so I was surprised when Charlie was vocal and completely articulate about what scared him.  The second incident happened at the zoo, and just like Violet, Charlie was fine with the large predatory animals.  When we stopped to look at the octopus, he just slowly backed up and again started saying, "I am scared of it."

I wonder what causes these fears.  Gorillas and octopi scare them, but they love the Komodo dragons and anacondas and bats.  I guess I'll have something interesting to tell them about themselves when they're older.