I’m not sure what to do with Gavin. Wendy just blogged about her son’s irrational fears & Gavin has been a ball of paranoia for months now. It’s getting a little out of hand. Here’s a partial list of things Gavin’s paranoid about.

  • Thunderstorms, including dark clouds
  • being alone in the basement
  • being left alone at home
  • Me leaving for any length of time

This afternoon I took the boys to a church picnic & Gavin did well until he noticed the dark clouds gathering in the sky. His fingers went in his ears & he was DONE. No eating, no playing, he was begging to go home. We stayed for a little while longer because Ethan wasn’t ready to go & the clouds were sliding off to the east; we weren’t in any danger of getting wet, but Gavin would not be convinced.

The basement thing is getting old too. The boys have had their bedroom downstairs for over a year. Our basement isn’t one of those dank, dark basements. We have a nice family room, their bedroom is bright & cheerful, we spend a lot of time down there & yet Gavin refuses to be down there by himself. I keep telling him, if he keeps it up, we’ll move him back upstairs & he can share a room with Tova.

I never want to make him feel bad about his phobia, I’ll never do the “big boys aren’t scared of …” thing. I want him to know he can be scared & I’ll always do my best to protect him, but some days it’s all I can do to not yank his fingers out of his ears & tell him to buck up.

These fears all started a few months ago. I wish I knew what was the trigger. All I can say is that the kid is trying my patience & his brother never did this ;-)

Any suggestions?

K~