7YO Thunderstorm Fear

[Liz & Allan MacDonald]

Three weeks ago we were in a thunderstorm at our cottage in Vermont. It
was about 9pm so everyone was still awake. A tree about 150 feet from
the porch was struck and split in two while we watched. I tried to
reassure Ann and she fell asleep on the couch with her fingers in her ears.

A few hours later another storm came through. She was sleeping with me
and her fingers went back in the ears at the first rumble, still asleep.
Within a few minutes there was another strike very nearby that woke
her up. She didn't seem too afraid.

Now she's showing the fear every day. If a plane flies over she asks me
what the noise is. This weekend she didn't want to go outside when the
sky was overcast. Today she wanted to leave the swimming area when a
plane flew over and puffy white clouds were present.

Anyone have any suggestions? She'll be 8 in October.

Liz

[dragonlady]

In article >,
Liz & Allan MacDonald > wrote:

> Three weeks ago we were in a thunderstorm at our cottage in Vermont. It
> was about 9pm so everyone was still awake. A tree about 150 feet from
> the porch was struck and split in two while we watched. I tried to
> reassure Ann and she fell asleep on the couch with her fingers in her ears.
>
> A few hours later another storm came through. She was sleeping with me
> and her fingers went back in the ears at the first rumble, still asleep.
> Within a few minutes there was another strike very nearby that woke
> her up. She didn't seem too afraid.
>
> Now she's showing the fear every day. If a plane flies over she asks me
> what the noise is. This weekend she didn't want to go outside when the
> sky was overcast. Today she wanted to leave the swimming area when a
> plane flew over and puffy white clouds were present.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions? She'll be 8 in October.
>
> Liz
>

At this age, I'd talk about it -- a lot. (Or, more accurately, listen a
lot while she talks.) You should also get some good solid text about
thunderstorms -- why the noise is so loud, what causes them, etc. You
might want to even find a website that has a good weather map, so she
can track the weather and get in to predicting when thunderstorms might
happen. The more knowledge she has the more she will be able to conquer
her fear.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[Scott Lindstrom]

dragonlady wrote:
> In article >,
> Liz & Allan MacDonald > wrote:
>
>
>>Three weeks ago we were in a thunderstorm at our cottage in Vermont. It
>>was about 9pm so everyone was still awake. A tree about 150 feet from
>>the porch was struck and split in two while we watched. I tried to
>>reassure Ann and she fell asleep on the couch with her fingers in her ears.
>>
>>A few hours later another storm came through. She was sleeping with me
>>and her fingers went back in the ears at the first rumble, still asleep.
>> Within a few minutes there was another strike very nearby that woke
>>her up. She didn't seem too afraid.
>>
>>Now she's showing the fear every day. If a plane flies over she asks me
>>what the noise is. This weekend she didn't want to go outside when the
>>sky was overcast. Today she wanted to leave the swimming area when a
>>plane flew over and puffy white clouds were present.
>>
>>Anyone have any suggestions? She'll be 8 in October.
>>
>>Liz
>>
>
>
> At this age, I'd talk about it -- a lot. (Or, more accurately, listen a
> lot while she talks.) You should also get some good solid text about
> thunderstorms -- why the noise is so loud, what causes them, etc. You
> might want to even find a website that has a good weather map, so she
> can track the weather and get in to predicting when thunderstorms might
> happen. The more knowledge she has the more she will be able to conquer
> her fear.

Excellent suggestions.

DD (10) once had a strong aversion to thunder as well,
but it was actually an aversion to All Things Loud. I
would ask if the sound makes her ears hurt, and if not,
then I'd ask if she can verbalize what she is afraid
of. It was fairly clear to us that the sound was
what DD feared, as fireworks also caused the same
reaction.

Still, we had a real boomer come through yesterday
morning, 2ish. DD came up to our room and said the
thunder woke her up. She stayed in our bed during
the worst of the storm, then happily walked back
as the thunder waned. I'm not sure how scared she
was, she only really reacted to the lightning strike
that had instantaneous thunder -- the one that made
me jump also, and I *love* thunder. DS (7) slept through
everything.

Scott DD 10 and DS 7