Fire Alarms

The Concerned Look

E has been so afraid of fire alarms ever since they started having fire drills at day care. Mark and I have done everything we can think of to help her to not worry. I've explained them to her, found a cartoon about them. We've had pretend fire drills at our house and in the dollhouse. I hold her up to have her give the fire alarm a high-five. We've told her that we don't have them at home, only at day care and that we would only leave our house like that in an emergency.

I think she gets it... but she still worries, particularly before bed. OR she just tries to keep me in her room by bombarding me with questions about fire alarms. The jury's still out.

Either way, I take her before-bed concerns seriously. She seems genuinely nervous. Also, if my anxious tendencies are hereditary, this kid is going to have a lot of night-time anxiety. So, just in case, I cater to her a bit.

This is our (almost every-night) conversation:

"Mommy!!!! Mommy!!!" she yells from her room. I go in.
"What is it?"
"I'm scared of fire alarm."
"Ok, why are you scared?"
"I hear it beepin'."
"It's not beeping right now. Could it have been a noise outside?"
"Yeah. Maybe a car? Or a truck."
"Yep. If you hear it again and you're scared, just let me know. I have to put you down now."
"Mommy? I just want to talk about fire alarms a little more."

Oh my goodness... could this child be any cuter?

"Ok, what do you want to know?"
"I go in crib at day care."
"Yes, they put you and your friends in a crib to wheel you outside quickly."
"But I in crib at home?"
"Your crib at home is just for sleeping. At day care, you use a mat for a nap, but at home you get a comfy crib to sleep in all night."
"No fire drill?"
"No fire drill at home. We would only go out in an emergency."
"Just an emergency?"
"Yep, and you don't have to worry about that, because I would come get you. I'd scoop you up in my arms and take you outside."
"Ok. Don't have worry?"
"Nope. You let Mommy worry."

Mommy has been worrying a long time. You can put it all on me, kid. I have years of experience. :-)

Last night at dinner time, I said to her, "You know what?"
And she said, "I love you?"
Ha! Do I really tell her that so often that she knows what I'm going to say before I say it? "Good," I think, "She knows."

I cracked up, "Yes. Exactly. Well, I was going to say that, 'I wished for you my entire life, and I never imagined I'd have such a beautiful, sweet, smart little girl. I'm so proud of you every day.'"

She gave me a big ol' goofy smile, a nod, and a big hug.

Even as we dive head-first into this "terrible-two" stage, I have to say, this mom thing just keeps getting better.