How Do I Help My Son No Longer Be Afraid Of Weather?
A couple of months ago, I decided to invest in a weather radio for the house. The first night we had some major storms and the radio alert went off several times. Ever since then, my son who is 6 years old is scared to death about storms. The other night when I went to the window to see what rain was coming up, he panicked and asked me not to do so.
I know that I want my family to be safe from bad weather, but I want them to see it's not something to totally fear. How can I convince my son that we'll keep him safe?
2008-07-30T08:51:26Z
We live in Iowa and if there is a tornado we head to the inner closet in the lowest level of the house.
Kristen W2008-07-29T19:04:55Z
Favorite Answer
There is a WONDERFUL story book called Thunder Cake. It immensely helped my son, children I nannied for, kids I taught at preschool, and even my younger brother overcome their fears and even do something PROACTIVE as a strorm approaches.
Again, the book is called Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco. It is fantastic.
The book may not SOLVE your son's problems completely, but it may help him to better communicate his fears and realize that he's braver than he originally thought.
I don't know what state you live in and what kind of storms come but in Texas we have closets under the stairs for tornadoes and the town's alarm goes off all the time in the spring at like 3:00 in the morning. You could put flash lights, blankets, snacks, and the radio in the closet and show him that if a storm ever got bad that the whole family will be safe in that closet. You should tell him that thunder is only noise and lightening usually strikes in open fields and water so it won't touch the house.
I don't know if it's something kids ever get over really. I would suggest renting some books on weather at your library and maybe watching some videos about it. Explain that bad things don't always happen when it storms. My mom always told me thunder was the angels bowling, that helped me.
Your son is young, and as he grows older he will get over his fear on his own. I was scared of storms until I was about 10 years old. My father would comfort me, and I would certainly find comfort in his words, but that's as far as you can really go. I got over it on my own and it was just another very important part of growing up.