My attitude towards fear? I force myself to face it. If I’m fearful, I throw myself in the path of that fear so I’m compelled to conquer it. My attitude towards fear is definitely the “get back on the horse” approach. My faith in God and love of a challenge helps motivate me.
I love watching my children embrace new situations.
Here’s an example: Our best Family Zoo experience yet was at the Darling Downs Zoo situated 30 minutes from Toowoomba. I absolutely recommend it! The relaxed atmosphere and small crowd numbers meant a stress-free exploration day for the children. As a bonus, the children had the opportunity to hold a snake — for free (no hidden costs here) and I was proud how enthusiastic they were. This got me thinking about how sometimes, parents can impart their own fear onto their children, in essence hindering the opportunity a child has to explore the world around them.
I’ve probably done it myself in some areas; however, I try and keep my own fears apart from my children so I don’t influence them in a negative way. I don’t like snakes but I was willing to hold one. It did give me shivers though.
Dealing with fear is part of life, and my children do have fears. I just hope they’re natural fears, depending on the child’s nature, which could include snakes, and not fears I have instilled in them.
What do you think? Do you think fear can be instilled?
Some cute shots from the zoo. If you live in South East Queensland, make an effort to visit.
External Links
Childhood Fears: Supporting Your Child to Outgrow His Fear
SuperParents: Women of the 21st Century
21 Comments
lifeinapinkfibro
July 22, 2010 at 9:23 pmI agree to a degree, but I also think that children are born with their own natures. My Mr6 is an inherently cautious child. He would run a mile from a snake. Mr3 on the other hand would be right in there, checking to see if it had ears. Both brought up exactly the same.
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 22, 2010 at 9:28 pmI absolutely agree!
“Dealing with fear is part of life and my children do have fears. I just hope they are natural fears, depending on the child’s nature, and not fears I have instilled in them.”
In my brood, I have a few very cautious ones, and that’s in their nature… and beautiful. However, I’m talking about specific fears that parents may impart…
Appreciate your view.
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Debbie
July 22, 2010 at 9:57 pmI definitely think fear can be instilled. We are our childrens biggest teachers – they see us react to a situation, and think that’s how it’s supposed to be. A friend of mine has a fear of crows (understandably), and her son is petrified of them as a result. But I agree too, that it is also inbuilt in their personality. (BTW – you are a braver woman than I am holding that snake!!!)
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 22, 2010 at 10:26 pmYou know Debbie, I first read Fear of Cows… lol and then I had to google it.
Fear of Cows is Bovinophobia
http://constantfear.blogspot.com/2008/01/bovinophobia-fear-of-cattle.html
But then I realised you said crows. So I HAD to google that as well.
Fear of Birds is Ornithophobia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithophobia
So there you go, I learnt some really interesting things today.
Carolyne
July 22, 2010 at 10:58 pmHi Kelly, i do think fear can be instilled. I had a friend who was terrified of dogs as a result of a childhood experience. She passed this fear on to her 2 children and if they were out and a dog was nearby or approached she would ‘freak out’ and so would her kids, reacting to her reaction, even if the dog was obviously not a threat (but she wasn’t able to get past her fear to realise that). That was when her kids were about 3 and 5, it would be interesting to know how they react now. Carolyne
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 11:47 amCynophobia = Fear of Dogs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynophobia
Yes, I guess this is what can happen and what I try to avoid…
The Original SuperParent
July 22, 2010 at 11:59 pmI think fears can definitely be instilled. In fact, I think that you can desensitize a person towards certain fears too. Good post. Thanks for the mention. Colin
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 11:53 amThanks for the inspiration Colin.
Diana
July 23, 2010 at 7:39 amOh yes, I think fear can be handed down to your kids… and grandkids. I’m pretty fearless myself, always have been, so I don’t understand why my grown sons both scream like little girls and have to yell for a wife (or me, their mom) to come kill a wasp when one buzzes within a mile of them. Hmmm. I have no idea where that came from! LOL!
I would think of you as a pretty cool mom, joining in on the family snake fun. Yeah. =)
Visiting from SITS! Have an awesome and happy day!
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 11:54 amLOL
Thanks Diana
Gayle
July 23, 2010 at 8:34 amof course we impart our fears to our children sometimes without us knowing. I try so hard to keep my fears from my children because I want them to feel free to be curious and explore things. I however have not been really successful in keeping my irrational fear of lizards from them but happy to report that not one of my children are afraid of lizards so I guess I haven’t done too bad a job LOL
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 11:56 amYou rock Gayle
SquiggleMum
July 23, 2010 at 7:39 pmI absolutely think parents can pass their fears on, usually completely unintentionally. I applaud you Kelly for stepping up as a mother to set the example for your kids. I think it’s really important that we teach our kids how to respond to fear.
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 12:00 pmThank Cath. I like how you’ve brought out teaching kids how to respond to fear.
Mon
July 23, 2010 at 9:37 pmThis is one of my biggest “issues” as a parent! I was only talking about this very thing to my huband the other day.
I am absolutely terrified of swooping magpies (so much so that I don’t do outdoor exercise from late Aug to Nov so to avoid being swooped). This year, however I will have a one year old who will want to play and do all of the outdoor things we normally do and I certainly don’t want to instill in her the fear that I have. Obviously I want to keep her safe but I don’t ever want her to be frightened. Cautious, yes. Scared, no. So it looks like I’m just going to have to be brave this Spring and face my fears.
While we’re on the subject of fears and being afraid of things…. My husband and I have talked about the topic of labelling our daughter as being “afraid” of things. My MIL once said that our daughter was “scared of the dark” because she liked having a night light on at one stage. When we got home I talked to Travis about this and said that I didn’t like the idea of other people’s labels becoming Gabby’s self talk. It was a great conversation to have.
Ok, that’s my rant over and done with. 🙂
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 12:04 pmThis is really interesting Mon. I love how you’ve been talking about it. You know, you’re already half way there! I think on of points coming out of this comment tread is that not expecting our children NOT to have any fears, but showing and helping them how to know how to deal with it.
Elizabeth
July 24, 2010 at 11:33 amAren’t we all afraid of something?? My bent, your bent, my kids bent, to areas that scare us. When something arises, like my daughters scary dream that she just will not let go sigh…lol, I try to make it a ‘learning moment’. We talk about what we can learn from the situation and what we can focus on instead.
This means I have to do this myself too! The most powerful weapon I have when my daughters witness my fear is to ‘example’ my choice in how I respond and what I will focus on too, not just in my own mind but out loud, verbally.
Sounds easy, but it’s hard, because it’s easy to forget that little eyes and ears are always taking my life in!
Kelly Be A Fun Mum
July 24, 2010 at 12:07 pmIsn’t it just amazing! When you have kids you HAVE to put your money where your mouth is! This has been a huge learning curve for me: learning to be an example… and if necessary use words.
I really love the point you’ve raised here Liz. The point of being a good example of how to deal with fear, not avoiding fear altogether.
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