January 24, 2005
Clowns and Spiderman
Alan really doesn't like clowns. In fact, he's a little bit scared of them. Quiet a bit.
On the other hand, he loves Spiderman. He's got a little Spiderman action figure he plays with even though it has long lost its little head. He has the Spiderman pajamas which he wears every single night (yes, they do get washed sometimes). When we were in New York last summer, and he saw this giant movie poster that was easily as big as a house, he snuggled up to his Dad and sighed happily "I love Spiderman, Daddy". You get the idea.
On Saturday, we were on the birthday party of Alan's special friend Ilinca. There was a clown. A clown who did face painting. She painted Spiderman masks on little boys' faces.
It took Alan three hours to nerve himself up to it. He watched from a safe distance, then a little closer. He confessed his wish to me but wouldn't go near the clown. Then he edged a little closer. And a bit closer. It was a fierce battle of desire against fear.
Desire won...
... and we had a very happy, very proud little boy.
Posted by claudia at January 24, 2005 04:11 PM | TrackBack
Sounds like my daughter's conflict between her fear of Father Christmas and her desire not to miss out on a free gift.
Personally, clowns still scare the crap out of me.
Posted by: Steve at January 24, 2005 04:25 PMSounds like my daughter's conflict between her fear of Father Christmas and her desire not to miss out on a free gift.
Yeah, that's another scary one, Father Christmas. Alan cried when FC visited the nursery school last month.
Children often are scared of these figures. Why then every single toddler's party has a clown (at least that's the case here in Bucharest), is beyond me. Why horrify the little ones when they're supposed to have fun?
But that may just be me.
Posted by: claudia at January 24, 2005 06:44 PMNoel once said something to me about the root of unhappiness being the urge to try and want what you're _supposed_ to want. That may apply in this case at one remove.
Posted by: Bernard Guerrero at January 24, 2005 10:33 PM