Acrophobic Mama

Hello my name is Mommy and I am an acrophobiac.

I haven't always been this way. Before I had children I loved all things scary and all things full of height.  But there is something strange that happens when you have children (or just get older, I am not sure which is the true culprit, as I haven't used my fantastic market research skills to isolate and test each variable). You develop fears. Mostly irrational, but still fairly understandable fears.

Mine is a fear of heights. I can't stand being up high. We have a balcony that overlooks our living room and I don't even like to get too close to the edge. I envision myself tripping on a pantleg and plummeting to my death as I fall over the side of the railing. It's a good thing the balcony is very wide, because I walk straight down the middle no matter what!

So when we went to the festival after the parade last weekend, my fears kicked into high gear as we stood in line for the ferris wheel.

I LOVE ferris wheels! The colors. The lights. The nostalgia.

The heights.

I always seem to forget that part until we're standing in line and looking up.

I went back and forth, trying to decide if it was a good idea to take Sydney on the wheel of death with us, or if she should stay back with Mark because she was sure to slip right underneath the small piece of metal they call a "safety bar".

I literally had her going in and out of the line. And at the very last second, I had Mark pass her over the platform and the very nice carnie ("carnie" is not exactly PC, I know. But it's in the Urban Dictionary! And he really was nice!) helped get us sitting as safely as possible.

And that was it. The three of us started going up up up. I forgot that it takes you up backwards, which somehow makes me even more nervous. I also forgot that it stops continuously so that the next seat of death can be unloaded and loaded. And then the next. And the next.  Which of course means that the seat of death that you are sitting in will swing with each.and.every.stop.

I thought I was going to throw up from fear of one or all of us falling out! So I put on my fake smile so Elisabeth wouldn't know how freaked out I was, and up we went some more.

BARF!

Once we got going continuously I did a little better, and I discovered that if I kept my eyes looking out at the clouds instead of down to where I was about to fall to my death I wasn't as nervous. And fortunately for all parties involved, the ride eventually came to an end.

 

Have you developed any fears recently? Please tell me I am not the only one!