There’s a line in the Litany of Humility that references the fear of being forgotten.
Upon reading it my 7-year-old instantly remarked that her biggest fear (aside from being bit by a tarantula) is being forgotten.
You know; second graders and literal translations.
The kid, who has never in the history of the world, ever, ever, ever been
left behind, alone, overlooked, neglected, or made to wait even two seconds beyond a scheduled pick-up time is fearful of being forgotten?
How could this be?
Of course, upon further analysis, I realized that the fear of being forgotten is not exclusive to children.
Think of all the adults that roam the planet, displacing their fears or allowing them to manifest in behaviors that mask their true feelings.
Still, my daughter’s remark gave me pause for thought. I certainly don’t want her fear to grow. More importantly, I don’t want her to grow up clinging to any fear and allowing it to taint her thinking.
Shortly after having the forget me not discussion with my daughter, I read about another mom who likely had a similar talk with her young child about security issues… only hers took place in front of a lot more people, including the police.
Laura Trott knew her 3-year-old daughter Hope was attached to her.
However, the Maine mom says she didn’t realize the level of fear her toddler experienced when they were apart from one another.
According to reports, Hope was so anxiety ridden thinking that her mom had forgotten her at home while she went to the store, that the young girl went out looking for her.
Police say Hope woke up in the middle of the night thinking that her mom forgot her at home, so she put on a pair of little red shoes and a jacket, and then walked a mile in 29-degree temperatures and snow to the local IGA.
A store employee found Hope outside the market at around 4 a.m. crying for her mom.
“She was crying, saying, ‘My mommy is in there,’” the employee told local reporters.
Police were called and took the girl to the hospital to get checked out. Meanwhile, other officers were dispatched to the Trott’s home where they found Hope’s parents asleep in their bed.
Hope and her mom were eventually reunited, and to this day Laura Trott says she doesn’t know what made her daughter fear that she went to the store without her.
Since the incident took place a few weeks ago, the Trott’s have installed a dead bolt on their front door and Laura says she has not let her daughter out of her sight.
What do you do to calm your child’s fears?