Imagination & Fear
Hans is developing an imagination. He makes his little firefighter-guys hop and chatter and screech around the couch; he crawls around the floor, rearing up with claws bared and roars; he makes his own sound effects for things that are apparently happening only in his head; and he also panics at loud, inexplicable noises. With his new-found imaginated play has also come imaginated dangers and frights. The ice-maker could be the sound of machine guns; the sudden, loud honking next door accompanied by shouts could be a signal of invaders; the ceiling fan could be a device of torture; the singing and dancing teddy bear at Great Grandma Winckler’s house could be an alien lifeform. I don’t know what he thinks these things are, but perhaps he just doesn’t know himself and that leads him to fear the worst. Teddy bears shouldn’t sing “Achy-Breaky Heart” with deep, masculine voices, and this one does, so who knows what has possessed it. People shouldn’t yell, so something very wrong must be happening. He now not only has a better grip on reality and normality, but the imagination to fill in the blanks if things do not fit his categories.
So with the blessing of imagination also comes the dread of fear. His little mind is working on this problem, however, and in the security of familial love will incorporate the inexplicable as part of normal life. Then in that realization perhaps it will turn into grist for imaginative play rather than imaginative panic.
In the meantime, he better not watch movies with Daddy anymore. :)
