some time back, mum asked me to find for her some fake spiders and other creepy-crawly insects.

no, not for halloween decorations, or for a strange fetish.

she wanted something to ‘scare’ the little ones into submission.

:D

her grandsons – well okayyy, particularly one aniq izhan, is fearless of almost everything, and while some may see this as an advantage or a trait that should be encouraged, it also means that it’s harder for his caregivers to prevent him from doing something mischievous, or worse, hazardous. because granny’s scoldings are among the things that don’t faze him. (it also doesn’t help that a while after committing the crime, he’d push his face into hers and put on his most earnest “mmmaaa!”, subsequently liquifying her into mush.)

he bulldozes his way around recklessly despite prior warnings of impending danger.

“aniq!! jangan main dengan pintu tuuu, nanti tersepit kaki kauu!”
“aniq!! keluar dari bawah katil omaa, terhantuk kepala nanti!”
“aniq!! berapa kali oma cakap, kau gedebang-gedebung cermin tu, nanti benda tu jatuh pecah kan!”
etc.

he even knows when he’s doing something undesirable, purposely looking at us while waiting for admonishment for his misconduct. testing the waters, seeking attention, or just plain being a child, call it what you may, but it drives mum up the wall having a double dose of them in the house! (dadam being a whole other set of “pe’el”, heheee.)

so she feels that a temporary solution would be to scare the kids with those toy creepy-crawlies.

this is not to say that it’ll be a foolproof plan.

for dadam, there’s a chance, coz he’s the “penggeli” sort.

as for naniq, sure, he’d go “eeee!”, shake his head, and press his chest with his hands when we mention ants or spiders or ladybugs. (mum would occassionally capture live specimen for the boys, so you can say she’s kind of their science teacher, lol! but live ones don’t live long, and they scuttle off upon release.) he’d do the same when he sees them in picture books.

but curiosity would get the better of him and he’d inch closer to the scene (like that line of marching ants), observe in awe, point and look at me, then try to prod it. if given a chance, he’d even do a ‘nunu’, who was recently known to pick a dead roach with her bare hands to show her mum. (heck, he’d probably try to taste it too, lol!)

i think i may soon enough transfer my paranoia of lizards to him though, coz everytime i see one scampering away, i’d give my almighty scream and jump up and down like a hysterical baboon, much to his fascination. so he may just do the same some day, not for actual fear or ‘geli-ness’, but from mimicry. who knows?

meanwhile, we finally found a bag of fake ‘scary creatures’ (i swear it says that on the label) at one of those neighbourhood shops this evening for a bargained price of $2.30.

i’m not sure if i should allow this ‘fear factor’ tactic to take place. what if he REALLY gets scared of cockroaches and spiders and lizards and millipedes and bugs? he IS a boy after all, these are naturally creatures he SHOULD embrace and befriend!

and besides… if he becomes scared of them… who’s going to catch and kill them for mummy in her defence should she cross path with any of these offending creatures??

(by the way, let me tell you about my mum’s ophidiaphobia – yes, SNAKES! she’s so terrified of them, just the mention of the word will send shivers up her spine and turn her off her meal completely. i swear! i tried delving into her psyche and personal history, but she can’t seem to provide an answer to the root of her trauma. and no, desensitising never worked on her, coz the more we showed her pictures or shows on snakes, the worse it got.

BUT! she is a terror when it comes to lizards! so… my theory is, she kills lizards, and i’m scared of them. maybe her mum killed snakes, that’s why she’s scared of them.

ok. i’m doing it again, over-analysing, aren’t i? boo.)

“let’s gang up on oma and give her the heebie-jeebies, what say you?”
“ok… but first, get your hands off my spiffy elmo garb, yo.”

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