Phobias..

NerdGirl

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I think it's an age thing. When I was a kid I would climb trees, climb up on the roof - I loved roller coasters. Now, I can't even do a simple kid's swing without getting some motion sickness.

I hope not! I started having issues with heights in my 20's, so I don't think it was necessarily age for me. Ah, climbing trees! One of my childhood passions :)
 
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NerdGirl

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Me too. Do you have a tree-climbing war story to share?

War story? Like me vs the neighborhood kids or something? :D Nah!

We had a fantastic, sprawling maple tree in our yard. It was built for climbing. We all perfected our own techniques to get into it, and over the years, the bark was rubbed smooth and shiny from all of our little feet and bottoms going over it. Many games, conversations, and imaginary adventures were had there with our friends (my brother and I).

I did once do something rather mean to my friend, though.

She climbed up and was afraid to climb down. She told me to get my mother to help her. I told her to just get down on her own, and kept showing her how easy it was to do. She started crying and then shouting for my mom, lol. I was so annoyed with her, but for goodness' sake, I should have just gone to get my mom to help her :D
 
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J_B_

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War story? Like me vs the neighborhood kids or something? :D Nah!

We had a fantastic, sprawling maple tree in our yard. It was built for climbing. We all perfected our own techniques to get into it, and over the years, the bark was rubbed smooth and shiny from all of our little feet and bottoms going over it. Many games, conversations, and imaginary adventures were had there with our friends (my brother and I).

I did once do something rather mean to my friend, though.

She climbed up and was afraid to climb down. She told me to get my mother to help her. I told her to just get down on her own, and kept showing her how easy it was to do. She started crying and then shouting for my mom, lol. I was so annoyed with her, but for goodness' sake, I should have just gone to get my mom to help her :D

Sorry, I should have explained myself. That's a good story, but I meant more a war against the tree - a determination to conquer the hardest tree in the neighborhood.

Mine was in the sheep pasture next to my grandparent's house. I was determined to get to the top of that thing, and tried year round - which was part of the problem. I finally conquered it on a cold winter afternoon, which meant I was wearing a coat. Once I got up, I slipped and the hood caught, leaving me dangling in the wind. Though I wasn't choking, I was in quite the predicament. I was by myself, and yelled and yelled for help, but no one came. Dropping meant definitely breaking something. I was terrified. Somehow I got myself swinging far enough to catch another branch and pull my hood loose so I could climb down. That was the last time I ever climbed that tree.

Thing is, my kid was worse than me. On occasion we would get a call that he had climbed onto the roof of the school by scaling the brick. His fingers and toes were strong enough to use the ridges in the mortar between the bricks. Once on a school field trip he climbed a light pole all the way to the top and sat on the light fixture.

Your perspective about such things is different as a parent than it is as a kid.
 
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NerdGirl

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I have a "moderate" fear of heights but the odd thing is that does not translate to aircraft or even a ride in the basket of a hot air balloon.
I think I'd collapse into a weeping and possibly urinating heap in a hot air balloon.
 
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NerdGirl

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Sorry, I should have explained myself. That's a good story, but I meant more a war against the tree - a determination to conquer the hardest tree in the neighborhood.

Mine was in the sheep pasture next to my grandparent's house. I was determined to get to the top of that thing, and tried year round - which was part of the problem. I finally conquered it on a cold winter afternoon, which meant I was wearing a coat. Once I got up, I slipped and the hood caught, leaving me dangling in the wind. Though I wasn't choking, I was in quite the predicament. I was by myself, and yelled and yelled for help, but no one came. Dropping meant definitely breaking something. I was terrified. Somehow I got myself swinging far enough to catch another branch and pull my hood loose so I could climb down. That was the last time I ever climbed that tree.

OH, my goodness! God was watching over you that day. That's terrifying.

We didn't have many climb-able trees in our neighborhood. Sadly.

Thing is, my kid was worse than me. On occasion we would get a call that he had climbed onto the roof of the school by scaling the brick. His fingers and toes were strong enough to use the ridges in the mortar between the bricks. Once on a school field trip he climbed a light pole all the way to the top and sat on the light fixture.

Your perspective about such things is different as a parent than it is as a kid.

Isn't it, though? :D I was never the high climber, that was my brother. He was the daredevil.

How old is your son? Has he gone into proper rock climbing? It might satiate his passion while teaching him to do so safely? Or maybe that's just not thrilling enough for him, lol.
 
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J_B_

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How old is your son? Has he gone into proper rock climbing? It might satiate his passion while teaching him to do so safely? Or maybe that's just not thrilling enough for him, lol.

Yeah, too many times I've prayed along the lines of, "God, I don't understand why you rescue me from so many stupid situations of my own making. But please, don't decide to teach me a lesson."

My son is married and just had his first kid (a boy) in December. Now I get to see how he handles it.

His climbing phase was primarily in elementary school. Once he entered middle school he decided he wanted to try martial arts. He became a black belt, and his teacher wanted him to train for the Olympics because he was winning tournaments. I wasn't crazy about that idea, and resisted. He wanted to do it until he got a concussion during training one day. Then he also decided it wasn't a good idea. That's another tough parenting thing. Was I right to hold him back? Who knows what might have been? Was I right to let him do it in the first place?

But he became a nurse, which I guess is the career for the times - with COVID and such. And his fearless attitude is a plus. The things he deals with make me queasy.
 
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J_B_

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I think I'd collapse into a weeping and possibly urinating heap in a hot air balloon.

I wanted to try that (and parachuting, bungy jumping, etc.) but never did. A friend of mine parachuted and has a hilarious story. He only did it because his sister did it and he didn't want to look like a coward. The instructor told him he was going to be anxious the first time, but needed to calm himself and count slowly before opening his chute.

He jumped ... and panicked. He pulled the cord and counted: 1-2-3-4-5, the chute didn't open, I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Where's the emergency cord! I'm gonna die! ... Oh. My chute just opened.

He never jumped again.
 
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bèlla

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The result is that in my family, I'm the garbage disposal who eats the leftovers no one else will touch. Odd thing is, I don't get sick nearly as often as the rest of my family.

Things were different in the past. My food phobia is common for people from New Orleans. I inherited from my loved ones.
 
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Bob Crowley

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I'm not too bad with heights. I've done two parachute jumps (static line only - mind you I had my eyes shut till the chute opened, but that was a long time ago).

But I'm wary of cliff faces, and I don't like those platforms on the side of high rise buildings where you can step out and look down through the floor.

Other than that not too bad. Public Speaking doesn't worry me, but I was in Toastmasters for a long time. If anyone struggles with public speaking, Toastmasters is difficult to beat. They really build up your confidence.

Oh - I forgot - I'm wary around horses, as I haven't had much to do with them. My father had a permanent scar on the back of one of his legs where he got kicked.
 
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Bob Crowley

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He jumped ... and panicked. He pulled the cord and counted: 1-2-3-4-5, the chute didn't open, I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Where's the emergency cord! I'm gonna die! ... Oh. My chute just opened.

This is a bit off topic, but a friend of mine got a job recently. However he only knew about it because his wife saw it and insisted he go for the job.

So he did. During the interview the panelists asked him the usual "Why did you apply for this position?"

He thought for a while, and wondered what he was going to say.

Then he answered. "I knew you'd ask that question! I've been thinking about what I should say, and, well, the truth is ... my wife told me to be here!!"

He got the job.
 
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Guinan

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I'm absolutely terrified of heights to the point where my fear can make me physically sick. I'm also afraid of spiders and I hate clowns. My fear of clowns stems from an event that happened to me when I was a child. Other than these phobias, dolls and Ventriloquist puppets really creep me out too.
 
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