My Jedd, now 2 & 1/2 years old, is not afraid of jumping or falling. “Boo”ing still delights him, and being left in the car for a minute while we bring the groceries inside doesn’t give him any anxiety. He is not afraid of new people or of the dark. However, he does seem to be afraid of thunder.
The other night, we had a pretty good thunderstorm going on, and it was still somewhat active when I was putting Jedd to bed. I could tell he was uneasy as I hugged him and rubbed his back and laid him in his bed. The conversation started something like this:
Jedd: “But I don’t like the thunder.”
Me: “Don’t worry, son. It’s far away, and you will be all right. I will be here, and Mommie will be here, and God will take care of us.”
Jedd: “But there’s no God in my house.”
I’ve thought about his comment ever since. In a way, he’s right; in a more important way, he’s wrong. But what do we do with this?
Jedd made it through the rest of the thunderstorm just fine and wasn’t afraid of the night. But I am afraid of the possibility that Jedd could grow up struggling with belief in God, since God cannot be seen “in my house.”
Don’t try to tell me not to worry because this is “normal.” As a parent, I am afraid.
