Results tagged “fear” from Momtourage: Need Advice?

My 8-year-old is terrified of thunder. How can I help him conquer the fear?

THE QUESTION :

My 8-year-old is terrified of thunder. He does have some learning disabilities that are compounded by behavior issues, which makes it even harder to get him to understand that it's not going to hurt him. Is there anything I can do to help with this fear? It's crippling at times, to the point that he hides out in the bathroom until the storm has passed. No force on earth can remove him from that room.

THE ANSWER:

Thunder can be scary for some children. If your son is oversensitive to loud noises in general, you may want to buy earmuffs to wear during a loud storm. Get two pairs so you can wear one too.

Tanya Remer Altmann

How can I help my fearful 4-year-old?

THE QUESTION :

My 4-year-old recently stopped wanting to participate in karate after loving it for more than two months. He says he's afraid, although he can't say what he is afraid of. Just one day before this began, I lost him for moments in a store and he was obviously upset. What can I do to help him?

THE ANSWER:

Fear is an intrinsic human emotion -- a vestige of our days as cave people when fear was critical to survival. In many cases, that is still true today: fear protects us from many risks. That said, it's important to differentiate a fear from a phobia.

Marilyn Augustyn

There's mercury in high-fructose corn syrup? Now what?

THE QUESTION :

I just learned that mercury has been found in high-fructose corn syrup. I'm not a health nut, but I'm scared. What can I do--short of growing my own food or going broke at the health food store--to feed my family a good diet?

THE ANSWER:

You don't have to cook everything from scratch--though that could be a good thing--or spend a fortune to feed your family a healthy diet. But at the risk of being overly simplistic, the best way to avoid HFCS is to choose products without it.

Eileen Behan

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