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?
