Fears and Phobias – Boy Howdy, I’ve Got ‘Em

How much time do you have dear readers? This could go on for a while because I have issues, people. Issues. 

 

Spiders – Okay, so most bugs wig me out, but spiders are especially terrifying. (Yes, I know that technically, spiders aren’t bugs, but whatever.) In my house, we call them Satan’s Snowflakes – like snowflakes, no two are alike. Each one is individually handcrafted by Satan himself. 

They have all those legs and they can go anywhere. Like sometimes, you’re just sitting on the couch yawning and minding your own business and you look up and there’s a spider on the ceiling…possibly waiting to fall into your mouth as you choke on a yawn. The little bastard below was hanging in the basement by my washing machine. And that's when I stopped doing laundry. 

Dentists – Now I have had some truly horrible experiences at the dentist. Seriously, there’s nothing like hallucinating while you’re under anesthetic, but aside from that, it seriously creeps me out to have someone else’s hands in my mouth. It’s just not okay. 

Clowns – I don’t know the history of these little bastards, and I don’t care. They’re disturbing as fuck, and I want nothing to do with them. Now, there’s some horrid person dressing up as a clown on Staten Island and just creeping around scaring people. WHO DOES THAT!?!?!? Here’s the story if you want to see the madness for yourself. (Story.) I’m pretty sure if I saw that dude skulking around, I’d never leave my house again.

And because clown and spiders aren't bad enough on their own, here's a freaking Clown Crab Spider - What. The. Actual. Fuck. Evolution!?!?!?

In addition to the above, fairly stupid, things, I'm also terrified of things something terrible happening to my kids or the rest of my family and friends - but especially my kids.

I'm also phobic about house fires and on particularly bad nights, I can't sleep without checking the entire house multiple times. 

Tornadoes are another big fear - I've seen several up close and personal and that was way more than I necessarily wanted to. Every time, I hear the tornado siren in the spring and summer, I kinda get a little wiggy.

These are the main ones. I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that jumped into my head first. 

Check out the other bloggers fears and phobias by clicking on their names! Leigh Jones, Jess Jarman, Kellie St. James, Tess Grant and Kris Norris.

Not Everyone Loves a Clown

So yesterday, I had lit circle. I've been having some trouble connecting with them. Part of it is very few of them are actually friends so they don't feel as comfortable sharing as the kids in my last group. Also, they all like different genres so trying to engage them all in a single story has been exhausting. But...I finally did it! Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardener was the answer! They're all over this book.

When we met yesterday, we talked about Phoebe Price, the girl who hanged herself because of being tormented by bullies, and bullying in general. We discussed the case and how the worst of her bullies are facing charges and what could have been done to make a difference in Phoebe's life. I told them about the articles I read and how the single most effective action to curtail bullying wasn't parents or teachers, it was the response of peers. Bridget, one of the girls said, "But we don't have any power."

I told her that they had the most power in situations like this. No one wants to be disapproved of by their peers and that by condemning the action of a bully (not the person) they actually help to end the bullying behavior because then the bully experiences the disapproval.
These kids are lucky. Their school really does have a zero tolerance policy regarding bullies, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Bridget, who's relatively new to the school says it's way better than her old school, but she still sees it occasionally.

So for the next two weeks, all seven kids are conducting an experiment. If they see someone being bullied, they're going to stand up for the kid in question. The cool thing is, they all seem genuinely excited about trying the experiment. They're going to take notes and we'll be discussing it during our next lit circle session. I talked to the teachers and they're excited too. Will it stop all bullying in the school? I doubt it. Will it show these kids that they do have power to help change things? I sure as hell hope so.

After lit circle, I was feeling pretty good, and I walked back into the office to sign out. Oh what a mistake! After I checked out, I turned around and squealed. Loudly. Because there behind me, talking in a totally normal voice to one of the secretaries was a fucking clown! Green hair, hat with a flower, full-on clown makeup and ginormo red shoes. Apparently his kid had forgotten his lunch at home.

Of course both the secretaries frowned at me and the principal, vice principal and the guidance counselor all stuck their heads out of their doors to see WTF. The clown glowered me. Angry man face underneath eerily happy clown face is beyond creepy. Seriously, the stuff that nightmares are made of. Needless to say, my happy lit circle high dissipated rather quickly.