Fear itself

Recently, Evelyn has taken an interest in fears (remember Elmo?). She is very much aware of the fact that some people and things can be frightening and she's quite good at expressing this awareness. Evelyn likes to crawl under the dining room table and roar like a lion, asking "Mama, are you scared?" But she's also picking up on more subtle, gut-instinct fears. I am certainly encouraging her to follow her instinct. Last week, Evelyn looked up at me while perusing some books at a local shop and said "Mama, I don't want that man to scare my." There was an older man looking through the stacks and, while I didn't see him so much as glance in our direction, he made Evelyn a little nervous.

Evelyn also had a chance to go on an outing with her aunt and uncle, who visited this past week. It was only her second outing without one of her parents along (the first was during Henry's birth), and she had a wonderful time. My sister, brother-in-law, and Evelyn headed to the aquarium. Evelyn got to see all kinds of colorful fish and starfish. She tried on flippers and poked her head through an octopus cut-out. She was also very quick to tell me, upon returning home, that she saw a shark and it made her very nervous. In fact, we're still talking about that shark-- which, incidentally, was less of real shark and more of a plastic model on the wall. Fortunately, when Evelyn saw it and announced "I'm scary!" (meaning scared), her aunt and uncle scooped her up and they explored other exhibits. We've since discussed that the shark was make-believe, and it was hanging up so that people could see what sharks look like and learn more about them. This seems to have satisfied Evelyn.