Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmmm...

What are you afraid of? When we're scared, don't we usually scream really loud? Or fall down? Or both? Sometimes we jump and run away. The point is we all do something when we're scared. Even if that something is freezing on the spot while our hearts run a mile a minute inside us.

But do we ever say "eek"? I'll answer this for you. No. We never say "eek". But we all know what "eek" means, right? It means we're scared. Eek is something we say to people to imply that at one instance we were scared. For instance, "I saw a gigantic spider on my pillow when I woke up this morning and I said, "Eek!"" Riiiight. I just said "eek".

My first graders made a class book entitled:

What are 6 year olds afraid of? Here's a few examples:

I'm sure snakes make a few of us say "eek".

I like the illustration on this one. She's in a cage. Very realistic.

Spiders themselves are scary. But poisonous spiders are even scarier. Because they can kill you. Anything that can kill you is scary. Which leads us to the next few pictures.

Clowns make me say "eek", too. Clowns used to be funny. But now that there are so many creeps in the world, clowns are scary. But that's me, an adult, speaking. Kids shouldn't think, well, they shouldn't think THIS:

Or this:

In case you have an untrained eye for 6 year old handwriting, they say "Clowns that kill people" and "Watching Chucky".

What the....? Him watching Chucky makes me say "eek", too. In fact, it makes me want to go give his parents a few things to say "eek" about right now...

What makes me say "eek"? People who don't let their kids be kids. Who don't allow them the pleasure and innocence of childhood. Who think, "It's not real, and I think it's cool, so it'll be okay for my kid to watch." Kids think Santa is real. Why would they think any different about something scary they saw in a movie?

Aaaaand my venting is done.

I love kids and I love when their parents try really hard to help them learn and grow. And I especially love that they love their kids so much that they will come into a first grade classroom and talk to a teacher, even though it may be terrifying to them...and makes THEM say "eek."