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Development Topics
Overcoming Childhood Fears
Fear Factor
“I don’t want to play soccer, ever!” That pronouncement came at 7:30 a.m. My 4-year-old son’s first soccer game was to begin at 8:15. Never mind that Andrew had been to two practices and loved them, or that he’d been sleeping in his cleats and “Sharks” jersey for weeks.
Today, none of that mattered because Andrew was filled with something other than excitement: fear. Of course it took my husband and I a while to figure that out. We’d been frustrated all morning by his fussing and crying and generally ornery disposition. Then, when the crankiness centralized around the soccer theme, the dawn broke through our Saturday morning sleepiness.
“He must be nervous,” I suggested to my husband. Just about then Andrew fixated on the fact that he did not want his aunt to come to his game. In fact, he didn’t want anyone watching him.
“Andrew, Honey, are you just a little nervous about your first game?” my husband asked.
“Yeeesss, Daaaddyyy,” came the tearful response.
My husband had helped my son give words to the feelings he’d only been able to give volume to previously. Immediately, things began to improve.
Andrew is now a veteran soccer player with at least three games under his belt. He still gets nervous on occasion about all kinds of things including whether he’ll fall down or meet a cleat he doesn’t like. But we learned something together that early Saturday morning. Everyone gets scared. And when we do, we can reach out to those around us, reach deep down for courage and reach up for God’s help. Go, Sharks!
—Susan Ligon
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