Family of Fear...

I've realized something about my little family.

We are a bunch of scaredy cats.  Chickens.  Wusses.

But the things that keep us up at night are slightly removed from the norm.  Intrigued?  Let me indulge you.

First there's Reece.  His top three fears are Martha Stewart, Sheri Dew and going bald.  Yes, I'm being serious.  What do you call a phobia of powerful women?  Apparently that's what he has.  And the bald thing -- he admitted to waking up in tears a few years back after dreaming he touched his head to find nothing but skin. 

Then there's me.  I am absolutely terrified of animals dressed as people.  It's freaky, it's weird and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable.  Then there is fruit.  I like to eat it, but I can't stand cores, peels, seeds -- any by-product not meant to be consumed.  Freaks me out.  My brother once pulled a nasty trick by hiding an old banana peel at the bottom of a package my family sent me while I was living in New Jersey.  The same brother hid another banana peel under my pillow and I almost threw up.

Deep water paralyzes me.  I love the ocean, but scuba diving will never be included in my list of hobbies.  Probably because I'm even more terrified of sea life, specifically sharks.  Seriously, could you think of a worse way to die?

And Lola.  Oh, my little Lola.  The kid absolutely flips at the sight of those diaper changing stations in public restrooms.  We're talking Exorcist-level freak out.  I guess when I think about all the germs crawling around on those things, I am equally terrified.

She's also afraid of "The View."  One morning as I was getting ready, I heard Joy Behar's nail-on-chalkboard voice screeching through the television, followed by Lola's mortified squeal.  She screamed until I changed the channel.  I don't blame her though.  Those women are pretty horrifying.

She's also pretty freaked out by books that make noise.  Grandma scarred her for life by giving her a book that makes cow sounds.  I've never seen Lola's eyes get so big.

The funny thing is, all our fears kind of make us a bit freaky ourselves.  Interesting how that works out...