Friday, July 25, 2008

Volcanoes in Ohio

Do you know that very groggy feeling you have when, in the wee hours of the morning, one of your kids comes to your bed, scared, saying they'd just had a nightmare? Barely awake, I usually open up the covers and let them in, so we can all get back to sleep quickly. They actually don't come in very often anymore.

This morning Daniel came in around 5 a.m., soon after Don had gotten up for work. I opened up the covers and waited for him to get settled. Usually the kids don't give any details about the nightmare, but this time Daniel apparently couldn't get it out of his mind.

Ten minutes into his stay, he says: "There would never be a volcano in Ohio....right?"

Mommy: "Right, My Love. There are no mountains in Ohio."

I was relaxed and almost ready to go back to sleep, but his question suddenly seemed hilarious. Trying not to laugh, I quickly buried my head in my pillow until the giggle urge went away.

Tonight when we were putting the boys to bed, Daniel asked again about the possibility of volcanoes springing up in Ohio. This time, I couldn't contain the laughter. Don was in there too, so I told him about Daniel's early-morning volcano dream. It struck him as hilarious too, probably because we've been lamenting for three years about the absence of mountains in Ohio. Actually, Don has even joked that his dislike of Ohio could only be cured by the sudden formation of a volcano. I don't recall him saying that lately, though.

Daniel has a LOT of fears, but they're usually related to loud noises - like fireworks, thunder, really loud machines. We know better than to laugh or make fun of them, but truthfully, none have ever struck our funny bone. I sit here typing, feeling awfully guilty about laughing at my sweet little boy, who is now asleep.

Yet I keep spontaneously giggling, at the thought of volcanoes springing up in Ohio.

2 comments:

Jen said...

I like that!

My boys are obsessed with tornadoes -- not sure why since we've never talked about them especially -- but a frequent show of affection for someone is to draw a picture of them being swept away by a tornado.

My Phoenix went through an extreme phobia of rainbows for a while. I totally get the inability to suppress laughter!

Andrea Frazer said...

My boy gets obsessive about stuff like that, too. His big thing forever was heaven. "I never want to leave this beautiful beautiful earth!" Oy. And yes, I talk about God and Jesus and all that, but he's still worried about death. Poor kid.