Fear of the Dark

There is always that one child that is terrified of something, they are always jumping out at any little unsuspecting thing or noise. They are even afraid of their own shadows. I was one of them children. I was so afraid of the dark and what may be lingering in the shadows. But however, I overcame that fear when I was about 13 years old. But to this day I have to admit I am still a little afraid of the dark.

When I was growing up I lived in an old house with no neighbors for about 2 miles. We were out in the middle of nowhere. I lived with my mom, grandma and grandpa. My bedroom was upstairs down the hall from my mom. I always hated going to bed because of my fear of the dark, I was always afraid someone or something was going to get me. When I was about 4 I remember laying there and I would hear noises and I thought oh no it’s going to get me. I would lay there and shake and finally I would get up and run as fast as I could to my mom’s room and once I was lying next to her I felt safe and then I could sleep. This went one for about a year, then when I started school I was afraid to do anything by myself, I could not even go to the bathroom by myself. My teachers talked to my mom and they talked about ways to help me overcome this fear.

The first thing she tried was a night light. She told me with this light I can see everything in my room and I can see that there is nothing there to hurt me. Well the first night I had this night light in my room, it did not work. Still every noise I heard I was shaking and crying, and I ran to my mom’s room and I was safe again. The second thing she tried along with having a night light was having me sleep with my favorite stuffed animal, she told me he would keep me safe while I was sleeping. Again I was still scared and ran to her bedroom shacking and crying and again once I was I was safe. So the third thing she tried along with the night light and the stuffed animal was her laying with me until I fell asleep.