A Break in the Weather!

Or at least a breakthrough in how Kate sees/reacts to the weather.

Kate, as you may remember, is an ombrophobiac (fear of rain)or maybe an amenophobiac (fear of wind) or an odd combination of the two. Basically, if it is raining or windy and I have to take Kate to school or bring her home or take her generally anywhere she turns into a crying, whining, snivelling, pitiful creature.

I'm not joking. It's horrible.

So, when I saw gale force winds in the forecast for Monday (and other days this week) I was understandably less than thrilled. Gale force winds. And rain. Just the kind of weather that makes my daughter question me at great length about why we don't have a car and why we can't just get in any one that looks like it is available.

Now, I have been working very hard to help her to overcome this fear. She got a new umbrella for Christmas. It is a pretty ladybird umbrella that she picked out. We talk about the weather a lot. Especially the wind. I've made up epic adventures about the wind. How the wind is very busy. His job is to blow the clouds away so that the sun can shine. He dries up puddles and mucky mud. He plays with the leaves and runs down the street very fast because he is always in a hurry and has a lot to do. (We talk about the rain in this way as well. Of course of all his jobs that I've listed {flowers growing, etc} the one she's focused on is that it washes the cat and dog poop off the sidewalk.)

After literally months, maybe even a year of talking until I'm blue in the face, it appears we've had a break through.

Because, Monday, the day of gale force winds, my daughter grabbed on to her umbrella with two hands and walked to school without a single tear. She chatted to me the whole way and we talked of the wind and the clouds and the rain.

When we got to school, I gave her the biggest hug and told her how proud I am of her for being so brave in the weather.

And she looked me in the eye and told me (as if this should have been as plain as the nose on my face,) "But Mummy, the wind is my FRIEND!"

Amen and Hallelujah.

I'm hoping that they stay friends for a long, long time.