Nature's Music

Earlier this week we had a moderate thunder storm. The winds were fierce. It took out the electricity and the phones. Thunder crashed well into the evening with sporadic flashes of lightening. Rain pounded down on the roof. At times it sounded like a crew of men were hammering on the shingles!

It was time for Aiden to go to bed and the thunder was still rolling through. We went through our normal bed time routine but on this night Aiden was too scared to settle down. I laid down with him for a while, trying to calm him down. Every time Aiden would close his eyes and begin to doze another grumble of thunder would quickly wake him up and he would begin to whimper.

I was surprised that Aiden was frightened by the thunder. Obviously, he's been through thunder storms in the past 3 years but never did it bother him like this. At one point, a loud thunder came rolling through the sky and shook the house when it reached fruition. Immediately, Aiden began crying, almost uncontrollably, yelling out that the thunder was going to hurt him. I had to think of something to get him to calm down. I don't want him to be afraid of thunder storms. I have always enjoyed sitting out on a porch during these storms, listening to the sounds of nature. It's music to my ears. That's it! I thought, I'll relate thunder to the music we listen to and dance to everyday.

"Aiden, thunder is only the beat of Nature's music. Listen to the sounds around you. Try dancing to the beat of the music. Thunder is not going to hurt us. Just like the music we play in the car, it's nice to listen to".

"Why is Nature making music?"

Umm.."Well, because all the animals and plants want to hear music. They like it, it sounds nice. It helps them go to sleep."

"But it's going to hurt me"

"Oh no. Thunder will not hurt us. It's music, just like in the car".

Rationalizing with a 3 year old is not easy. I was trying to simplify my explanation. I was trying to make thunder less scary, more fun. I was trying to relate thunder with his World and with what he finds entertaining. It wasn't easy. I didn't want to go with the old 'Santa Claus is bowling and he just got a strike'. That's what I used to hear as a kid and even then I thought that was a silly explanation. It wasn't realistic... How do you be realistic but reassuring. How do you explain a complicated World to an uncomplicated mind? That was my best shot at the time.

It still took Aiden some time to quiet down, not be scared and fall asleep. He ended up sleeping in our bed for part of the night. He was still scared when the loud thunders came rolling in....but I do think he was a little more comfortable after our conversation. We'll see if it sticks for the next time...