Kids and Storms

[jwright]

Does anyone have kids that are scared of thunderstorms? My oldest ds says they are loud and scary. He almost goes into a panic mode and always thinks the power will go out when we have a storm. Lately he has been saying he needs someone to sleep with him - he's been sleeping by himself for his whole life so I don't think he needs that.

How do you help calm your kids down during a storm? I don't even know how to explain storms to him - he wants to know why they come, etc.

Janell

[JeanineAnne]

hmmm...I have trouble keeping my kids in during storms :roll: They have developed our love of storms.

Perhaps asking (not during a storm ;) ) what it is that scares him so much, besides being loud and scary. See if you can explain some of what might bother him.

You could also teach him to count seconds between lightening strikes and thunder so he can see that the storm is moving away. I am sure for many kids that it seems like the storm just hangs around forever so he might find peace in counting out the storm leaving. Diverts their attention as well.

Good luck.

[Rach]

I agree. Sometimes they are worried about something very specific and if you can allay that fear the rest will be manageable. We were driving this summer and a really sudden storm hit. It was pouring so hard you could barely see and the road was disappearing.
Aiden was screaming and I was trying to drive enough not to get hit but not too fast as to crash into anyone or flood the engine.
So he was crying and saying we were lost and we'd never find our way home and the road was gone, etc. He let me know exactly what what bothering him (I always probe when he's scared, so he just does it himself now, LOL)
I explained to him how I look where the street signd and stoplights and carlights in front of us, I explained how I can navigate without seeing the road, and you have to do that sometimes in winter, and we started picking out landmarks and such. Once he was convinced that I could indeed find our house, he was fine.

Well as for climbing in bed, I let my kids do it if they are scared, but they have to be quiet and still or they go back to their own beds. If I can just go right back to sleep, it's easier IMO to just let them stay. ? Then I might talk to them in the morning about it.

[JoyLynn]

My kids love storms, too. When Chloe was about three we had a sudden severe thunder storm come up. Chloe was playing in her room and there was this huge roll of thunder that shook the house. Chloe comes running out of her room and yells, "Jesus is coming!" It was hilarious.

We just explained to our kids what makes thunder and lightening and that was all they needed.

[heart]

Joy [welcomewave]

I have a niece who is petrified of storms..She's 12 now but even when she was 5, she would take shelter in the middle of the house at the sound of thunder..

Angela adopted our love for storms

[BigChill]

My mom used to tell me thunder was God bowling!