Childhood fears

[Mary Ann]

The thread about what terrifies us got me thinking about unrealistic fears I had in my childhood. One that stands out was my fear of being sucked down the bathtub drain. I have 3 older brothers whose main hobby was causing psychological trauma to their little sister (as you may have noticed). When I was 3 one of my brothers told me that if our mom pulled the bathtub drain plug out while I was still in the tub I'd go down the drain with the water. I believed him, and can remember freaking out when my mom unwittingly tried to do that. It took me a few years to figure out that a pudgy kid like me was a bit too big to be swept away down the drain with the water, and 40 years later my brother is still proud of his accomplishment.

How about you? What unrealistic fears did you have when you were young?

 

[thestrangequark]

^ 'Tis the duty of the older siblings to terrorize the younger. When I was 4 my big sister told me that my mother had kidnapped me from my real parents -- from Egypt -- while I was still an egg. I had this mental image that I can still see today of her racing past the pyramids with an egg carton tucked under her arm, and, as I don't look particularly like either of my parents, was terrified that the story was true for a few years.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I was very young we lived in a house that had a very large shed in the back yard. There was a gap of about 3 feet between the fence and the shed and in this gap there was broken glass and other rubbish. Somehow myself, my two sisters and my cousins (or rather second cousins whose home backed on to the same laneway as our house did) got into our heads that a wolf lived in this gap. We were terrified to go anywhere near it. I think it is possible that some adult told us the wolf story to keep us away from this area.

When I was about four years old my cousin Paul (aged 7), my sisters (7 and 6) and another little little girl (aged 6)and myself decided we had had enough of this wolf and we armed ourselves with with hammers, big sticks etc and went hunting for the wolf. I remember how scared I was. Paul led the hunting party and I bought up the rear.

We didn't even catch a glimpse of the wolf.

 

[Candlelight]

What would happen when the sun goes nova and the solar system is destroyed.

Freaked me out no end.

 

[TerokNor]

I was really scared to be sucked in by a black hole.

TerokNor

 

[Kestra]

^ 'Tis the duty of the older siblings to terrorize the younger. When I was 4 my big sister told me that my mother had kidnapped me from my real parents -- from Egypt -- while I was still an egg. I had this mental image that I can still see today of her racing past the pyramids with an egg carton tucked under her arm, and, as I don't look particularly like either of my parents, was terrified that the story was true for a few years.

I was terrified of roller coasters (still am), and my siblings made me go on Space Mountain in DisneyWorld with them. There was a long line and I was freaking out the whole time leading up, especially in the dark where you can just hear screams and see lights streaming by. My sis saw me looking around worried, and told me that each of the "stars" on the ceiling were for every person that got thrown out of the coaster and died.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Man, that's cruel!

 

[Kestra]

She was a master in the art of torture!

 

[Mary Ann]

^She certainly was, and I have a feeling she knows my brothers.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I was terrified of roller coasters (still am), and my siblings made me go on Space Mountain in DisneyWorld with them. There was a long line and I was freaking out the whole time leading up, especially in the dark where you can just hear screams and see lights streaming by. My sis saw me looking around worried, and told me that each of the "stars" on the ceiling were for every person that got thrown out of the coaster and died.

That made my day!

 

[JiNX-01]

I am astonished at the number of people here who have @**holes for siblings. Especially the one who 40 years later is still proud of scaring the crap out of a little kid.

 

[Jadzia]

As a child, my parents often talked about a man who lived in our neighbourhood who "only has one eye".

The mental image I had was of a cyclops: 8 foot tall, hairy, club wielding, and with his eye in the middle of his forehead. I was rather frightened of this man I had never met.

 

[nevermore]

Can't sleep, clowns will eat me. Can't sleep, clowns will eat me. Can't sleep, clowns will eat me.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ 'Tis the duty of the older siblings to terrorize the younger. When I was 4 my big sister told me that my mother had kidnapped me from my real parents -- from Egypt -- while I was still an egg. I had this mental image that I can still see today of her racing past the pyramids with an egg carton tucked under her arm, and, as I don't look particularly like either of my parents, was terrified that the story was true for a few years.

You must have been eggscited for quite awhile then...

 

[Myasishchev]

What would happen when the sun goes nova and the solar system is destroyed.

Freaked me out no end.

That sounds like a pretty reasonable fear to me: terror at the prospect of the end of all life, and the all possibility of life, in a cold and indifferent universe.

I mean, proton decay gives me the willies.

As a child, my parents often talked about a man who lived in our neighbourhood who "only has one eye".

The mental image I had was of a cyclops: 8 foot tall, hairy, club wielding, and with his eye in the middle of his forehead. I was rather frightened of this man I had never met.

Hey, Odin is no one to flex with.

 

[Kestra]

I am astonished at the number of people here who have @**holes for siblings. Especially the one who 40 years later is still proud of scaring the crap out of a little kid.

I don't think this type of thing makes someone an asshole. I mean, I do wish my sis had gone easier on me sometimes but she's also been incredibly supportive at other times. If I recall correctly, the same year as the Space Mountain incident, there was another incident at home where I accidentally dropped a glass. My sis (only a year older than me) rushed me out of the kitchen, got some shoes, swept everything up, and made sure I stayed out of the way until everything was clear because she didn't want me getting hurt.

I'm not saying the teasing is necessary but you can't judge people based on a single anecdote.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The thread about what terrifies us got me thinking about unrealistic fears I had in my childhood. One that stands out was my fear of being sucked down the bathtub drain. I have 3 older brothers whose main hobby was causing psychological trauma to their little sister (as you may have noticed). When I was 3 one of my brothers told me that if our mom pulled the bathtub drain plug out while I was still in the tub I'd go down the drain with the water. I believed him, and can remember freaking out when my mom unwittingly tried to do that. It took me a few years to figure out that a pudgy kid like me was a bit too big to be swept away down the drain with the water, and 40 years later my brother is still proud of his accomplishment.

How about you? What unrealistic fears did you have when you were young?

If I had this exact phobia when I was little (minus the brother bit), I would never ever admit to it.

 

[thestrangequark]

I just thought of a couple of bathroom related fears from my childhood, and one has the bonus of being caused by Star Trek! For a long time I was scared to go into the bathroom if the shower curtain was drawn, and would always open it before I'd shut the bathroom door. The reason was an early episode of TNG in which an away team find themselves in an alien recreation of a suspense novel belonging to a 21st century astronaut. In one scene, they pull back a sheet to find the astronaut's mummified corpse. I think I had a nightmare after seeing that episode, because for a couple of years after that I was irrationally convinced that the astronaut was in my bathtub, ergo, opening the shower curtain first to make sure he wasn't waiting until I was on the toilet to jump out at me.


I also went through a phase when I was 4 or 5 when I was afraid to flush the toilet. I still flushed every time, but would run out of the bathroom as fast as I possibly could as soon as I pulled the handle!

 

[Misfit Toy]

I read a biography of Benjamin Franklin which ended with him "dying in his sleep". I had never heard of that concept and for weeks was terrified of going to sleep...

 

[TrekkieMonster]

I sort of have 2 that have become relevant to this thread.

I was absolutely TERRIFIED of thunder and lightning as a kid (which I undoubtedly "inherited" from my mom.) I used to have to hold my breath between the flash and the thunder ... for what reason I cannot recall. If, heaven forbid, I had to go to the bathroom during a thunder storm, I'd have to time it so that, after the lightning and the thunder clap, I would leap from the bed and run to the bathroom, and then I'd have to do the exact same thing in reverse to get back to my bed with the covers over my head until the next lightning strike. Strangely enough, now I love it.

As for the "bully brother", I didn't exactly have that, but I had uncles who were only 9 and 11 years older than I, and with whom I was very close as a kid. They lived with my grandparents in their big old farm house. From the time I was very small, they convinced us kids that the upstairs of the house was haunted. Years later, I learned that this was merely to keep us little kids out of their "stuff", but when we were little we didn't realize that. So, flash forward to when I was 7 years old and stayed overnight with my grandparents for the first time (we had only had daytime family gatherings such as Thanksgiving dinner there to that point). Of course, I was in my aunt's old room, upstairs, with the window that looked out on the cemetery (no joke) and, wouldn't you know it, we had a thunder storm that night. I was petrified! I don't think I slept all night, and I certainly didn't stay overnight in that house again until I was 12 or 13, and I was STILL nervous staying there at that "ripe old age."