So, what do you do with a child who is terrified of many things, to the point of being absolutely hysterical? That is what we are dealing with in Anna. She began by being afraid of the vacuum cleaner, and then of Muslim women who cover. It progressed to dogs, cats (well, pretty much any animal), people in costumes (especially the Chick-Fil-A cow mascot), people with weird hats or helmets, and, just this evening, plastic fish in the bathtub. Sigh. It is truly ridiculous. And she's not just a little bit scared. She shakes, freezes in terror, leaps across tables into a lap, etc., all while crying hysterically.
Let me tell you the golden Corral story I alluded to a few posts ago. On our drive west, we decided to stop at a Golden Corral for dinner somewhere in Iowa off of I-80. When we got there, the cashier told us it was kids' night--face-painting, a clown with balloon animals, and a drawing for a free PSP (some play station thing). We said great and sat down in the section right next to the cashier line without thinking much of it all. After we had all gotten our food (no small feat in a buffet) and settled down to eat, the clown walked in. He only had his face painted, and he was wearing a red propeller beanie--no crazy baggy pants, red nose, or big shoes. Anna. went. HYSTERICAL. She shrieked hysterically, leaped into my lap, and clutched at me for dear life pretty much the rest of the evening. The clown was held hostage in the other side of the restaurant because he couldn't even walk past without Anna freaking out. She hardly ate another bite because she was focused on keeping him in her sights the entire time. It was miserable, and I was trying to get us all out of there as quickly as possible, because I realized we were keeping the clown from the other half of the restaurant.
I went up to get dessert for the little boys, and lo and behold, the clown was standing there talking to the manager right beside the dessert line. "I can't even GO to the other side because that KID goes hysterical," he said. I immediately apologized profusely and said we were trying to hurry and get out of there. He began a long dissertation on his theory on why some kids are scared of clowns. "It's all a control issue. You probably forced her to go near a clown sometime, so she wasn't in control of the situation . . ."
No. We have NEVER forced her to go near a dog, or a clown, or even the vacuum cleaner. We told her how silly she was being, and we told her she couldn't be so loud, but we are definitely not the kind of people who force their kids to do things like go up to clowns! I am not even personally so fond of clowns! Good grief. I told the clown this, but you could tell he wasn't convinced. We continued talking, and somehow I told him that we were military, on a cross-country trip (I never say we're going to Utah, though, because then people thing we're Momon, LOL), so it was just a coincidence that we were even there at all that particular night, etc. He warmed up a bit and told about his military father and their cross-country trips, and I felt like he at least thought we weren't abusive parents anymore. As I turned back to the dessert line, his parting words were "You want to know my original theory? Weinie kids have weinie parents."
Well. So. Yeah. Nothing to say to that. I hurried back to the table and got us out of there as quickly as possible, feeling about as humiliated as possible.
The real kicker is that 3 days later, on Friday, I received a phone call from Iowa as I was waiting to get a pedicure/manicure with my sister-in-law Melinda. It was Golden Corral, telling me that Caleb had won the PSP. Huh. I'm not real eager to go back, frankly. I guess we'll see if we can even find it again. We should be driving back through there the morning of Saturday, June 7.
So, any ideas? I really don't know how to handle this. It is not okay for Anna to be petrified of a zillion little things, and it seems like there are new things all the time (such as the bath toys tonight). It is incredibly frustrating.
6 comments:
Actually, I think I WOULD go back and get what he won. And while you are at it (Let Bob go in without the kids, etc.) I would complain about the clown. The "Weenie" comment was totally uncalled for, unprofessional, and rude. The manager should have stopped him long before that. You are a paying customer, no matter what happens with your child.
While you are at it, I would write a letter of complaint to the Golden Corral Headquarters, letting them know that you were treated so badly by an employee that it will effect whether you pick another Golden Corral on future trips.
If you don't want the playstation thing, you can always e-bay it.
I missed the excitement! Melinda
Oh Claire. I feel for you. Thomas is extremely scared of thunder and lightening. We keep thinking that because he is now 6 1/2 he'd get over it. Although there are small improvements, just today he freaked out at the dark clouds (which did bring a quick, small storm.) It was so bad last fall that we had battles every night at bedtime for about 2 weeks because he thought the gray sky was clouds. We've tried a number of things -- reading about the weather (was too much info for him because he picks out the cumulous clouds), watching a storm pass, etc. Praying about the storm has been a good thing too -- and he even prays about it whens he's alone. Not that any of this might help . . . but just know I feel for you and will pray for you and Anna.
I would definitely go back and get the PSP. It is kinda like an adult portable game system that can also play movies. It is brand new and would sell for about $300 in the store. I am sure you could find someone to buy it from you.
I also agree that you should say something to the manager. I think I would have lost it at the Weenie comment and probably would have slapped the guy.
Unfortunately I have no ideas about the Anna situation. I have not had to deal with that. Zeke is a lot more cautious than any either of the other boys and we usually push him to get past his fear and do it anyway -- whatever it is. However, Zeke is not hysterical like Anna so I have no idea. I hope the rest of your trip goes well.
Wow Claire! That guy was COMPLETELY out of line!!! That infuriates me! I was just like Anna as a child, I was beyond hysterical about the Ham-burglar at McD's one time as a kid and I know that was wasn't the only incident - I should ask my mom for advice.
Henry is setting up for the exact same thing so you'll have to let me know if you find something that works. Right now he is petrified of this inflatable rubber ducky bathtub that I bought for traveling. He is so hysterical about it that now he wimpers even in his old tub, from the sheer memory of that one night!!
Which brings me to the next thing - Matt is going to be TDY to Maryland for the next 4 months, and Henry and I are going with him, so I was hoping we could get together sometime!
I pray the rest of your trip is "hysterical-free."
Sorry, no ideas for you, that doesn't sound like much fun.
Mary was hysterical about stopping at red lights when she was 3 or 4, she was fine again for a while, now she gets upset (but not hysterical now that she's older) when we go over 60 mph.
We couldn't come up with any solutions, either.
However, we did video her hysterics about when was the light going to turn green and why was it taking so long, we figured it might make a really funny movie some day several years later.
Some days in the DC traffic I felt like screaming hysterically, too.
Post a Comment