About a couple weeks ago, daddy E had a dinner date with his childhood friends. Roo woke up from his late afternoon nap, and insisted that he wants to meet his daddy’s friends too. So we tagged along.
We were a little late. J and her family were already in the restaurant when we arrived. Introductions began, and J was exclaiming over how cute Roo was, when without warning, he burst out crying! The loud kind of bawling, like he’s really scared!
He’s like that, my Roo. There are people who make him cry for reasons even he doesn’t know. We also can’t figure out what it is, but it happens only with certain people and only when these certain strangers give him too much attention.
Anyways, so daddy E had to take him out and talk to him. When they came back, he was calm, but the moment J’s husband looked at him, he burst into tears again! Okay, so J’s husband is rather huge, and he's sporting a beard, but it still can’t be the reason. There were other big strangers with beards who approached him before, and he warmed up to them right away. Carried on a conversation with them without any fuss.
Daddy E had no choice but to carry the frightened boy out again, and calm him down.
The next time they came in, Roo had his eyes tightly shut. Poor boy. Apparently, he told his daddy that he was afraid of them friends, so his dad suggested that he close his eyes and not look at them. And the little Roo took his daddy’s advice to heart. He made sure he had his back on daddy’s friends, and he desperately tried to keep his eyes close. Even when I was feeding him, he opened his mouth dutifully to eat the food, but his eyes remained shut.
In many ways, I am so like Roo—keeping my eyes close because I’m afraid of something or someone. Enduring the dark because I don’t want to face whatever it is I’m scared of. Missing out on a lot of fun because I can’t look at my fear in the face and tell it off. Like driving for instance. It has been more than three years since I got rear-ended while driving, but I still can’t get myself to drive again. More so after Roo was born. I’m terrified of driving alone with my precious son, scared of what can happen on the road. So most of the time, we either stay at home til daddy E is available to drive us around, or we take a taxi.
If only I can get enough courage to face my fears and get behind the steering wheel again…
I should learn. Like Roo. He eventually got over his fear, and opened his eyes, albeit slowly and with great caution. Before the evening was over, he was playing with Kaila, J’s daughter, and was dodging his huge uncle’s tickles.
6 comments:
You know what? I was like that when I was young... except that I was afraid of my own father. :) That's really strange because I really love my Dad and we get along really well after I got over it. :)
Anyway, this is a really cute story IA. :)
Hello IA! Sometimes kids are like that, when you give too much attention doon lalong iiyak or talagang natakot lang sya.
Toe, your dad must have felt really bad when you showed fear of him. Strangers and people who've made Roo cry at first sight wonder what it was about them that made him scared. I'm hoping Roo will get over his stranger anxiety soon.
Hi Ann! Natakot nga siya talaga, pero when I asked him why, hindi naman daw niya alam kung bakit. What works with him when meeting new people is, you ignore him and let him get used to you and he'll make the first move to talk to you. After that you're friends.
We all have our own fears. And it is hard to finally face our fears and be brave and put on a happy face. Kids are more resilient than adults though.
Greymom, you're right. Sometimes we adults even have more fears than kids, it's just that we've learned to hide them deep within. If I show my fears the way Roo does, perhaps I'd be more of a crybaby than he is. What I like about him is, after he cries, he forgets about it, and gets on with life. Just like that!
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