The Many Fears of M.

M. is a fearful child, I guess terrified is the more appropriate word. Clancy and I had to throw away the book Mommy Doesn't Know My Name, because on one page, Hannah, the heroine, appears to be a chickadee. M. is quite terrified of chickens because, she insists, of their pointy beaks. Sometimes when I read to her, I will look at her, and she will be covering her face with her little hands. The book The Monster at the End of the Book really just about sent her over the deep end. (Straight to the garbage).

She is also terrified of skeletons and skulls, so the current trend of skull decorated clothing has presented numerous problems. Once she even told me that she was scared of the food at the grocery store. I think only Clancy and I could have produced such a fearful little thing. I have always been extremely scared of all kinds of things, when I was young I bordered on total OCD, I thought that my fears wouldn't materialize SO LONG AS I took five steps to get to my bed, had five pillows in my bed, kept my silverware pointing towards myself at all meals, and spelled words out in my head in complicated patterns all related to the number five. I am better now, perhaps due to the extremely large dose of Zoloft that I take every day.

And Clancy is no better, he has fears related to supernatural phenomenon, while my fears are more along the lines of scary thoughts about murderers. And the two of us have very regular, unreasonable anxiety related to fears about our careers and lives.

The worst part about all of this is that when I was a little girl, I can remember admiring my parents and thinking about how fearless they seemed. They weren't afraid that my dolls were going to watch me and kill me when I fell asleep. I couldn't wait to grow up so that my fears would dissolve like theirs seemed to have. But now that I have grown up, unfortunately I am just as scared of aliens (my one predominant supernatural type fear) as I was when I was a little girl.

Poor M. I really wish that she hadn't inherited this unfortunate quality from us.

Jack the Wolf by Yvonne Jagtenberg

This book is a good read for someone who is just about to, or has just started preschool. Jack, the main character is very shy and scared when he arrives on the first day at his new school, particularly because everybody else already knows each other and has the hang of things. But, then Jack gets to pretend he is a wolf, and all of the children are scared of Jack. Jack is thrilled by this turn of events, and wants another turn at playing the wolf.

I think that this book speaks to a very human feeling. When you are hurt by someone, you want them to know what it feels like, and so you try to hurt them back. I think it is particularly a feeling that small children can relate to--see previous post. When M. grabs something from P., P.'s instinct is to bite, unfortunately for M. And it is more than mere self defense, P. wants to make M. in the same way that M. angered her.

Or when Clancy and I fight, so many of our remarks, once we are in the heat of the argument are just intended to cause reciprocal pain.

Jack feels the same way when he puts the wolf mask on. He is finally able to reciprocate the intimidation that he felt from the other children. I like how the author doesn't make any moral judgments about the pleasure Jack takes in scaring the other children. It is successful because children can relate to it. M. makes me read this one every night.

M & P

Little M. and P. have been fighting like cats and dogs all weekend. M. gave P. a totally unprovoked bite, and ceaseless scratching and screaming has plagued my house.

And another Monday morning. Two tiny girls screaming in my ears when I was trying to leave the house this morning. It was totally brutal.

Margaret at the Barack Obama KC Townhall.

Online shopping

Why can't I ever buy much when I shop online? Although I am sure that Clancy would disagree with me, if he had any idea of the volume of furniture, children's clothes, expensive women's shoes and handbags and other products that I look at, without actually purchasing much, he would be impressed.

I think maybe it is because you have to go through so much effort to check out. I have suffered many online purchase regrets, too, but I don't think that this is the reason. For example, the beautiful looking purple plastic silverware I bought from Moss that is no stronger than the disposable spoons I use every day to eat my oatmeal with. Or the imposter Higgins glass ashtray I purchased on EBay.

Presidential Candidates Favorite Reads

Hillary Clinton: Little Women, The Poisonwood Bible

Barack Obama: Song of Solomon, Moby Dick

John Edwards: The Trial of Socrates

Mitt Romney: BATTLEFIELD EARTH ??? What is this guy thinking?

John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls