wait, you mean tornadoes ARE real? where else would go besides a doorway? so confused.

haha, this story had me smiling so bad. I can blame all my adult neurosis on my brothers since they, like all older siblings, liked to play all sorts of amazing tricks on me to make me react to, like Leta, receipts falling out of bags and OMG IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD.

And I have to agree with Jon about the tornado warnings. Sure, I'm used to earthquakes living up in the northwest, but tornados? Let alone the hurricanes and tornados I had to deal with when I lived in Florida last hurricane season? The sheer thought of the hurricane blowing in and what if a tornado lands? THE WORLD WILL END AS WE KNOW IT. So, while I don't take it calm, I can see how Jon is like "they teach you to stand in doorways?" At my elementary in Seattle we learned to play dead under desks.

Ahh childhood. :)

I must admit that last paragraph did get me chuckling. Just thinking about 30 kiddies arranged in a doorway. Made me think of those ladies in fancy bikinis all piled on top of one guy jet-skis behind a boat.

I STILL freak out over tornado warnings, even though I've lived in GA for 3 years now. Before that, I lived in FL where hurricanes can blow half your state down, and I'm STILL convinced that tornadoes are WAY MORE SCARY. At least with hurricanes you KNOW there's impending doom coming, and you can board up the windows and pretend nothing's happening; tornadoes just pop up out of nowhere.

My son was scared of being sucked down the toilet when he was potty training...so there's that. :)

Lucky you - our youngest adopted son is sure that he will be swallowed by the toilet E-VER-Y TIME he goes. Now there's some PTSD therapy to work on...

in cali, our biggest worry is being naked during an earthquake that hits in the middle of the night. happened to me once. not fun.

When my husband and I met, I was Jon. Growing up in Philadelphia, there was no such thing as a tornado or warning drills. However, he grew up in Fond du Lac (I know, where in the eff is that? Wisconsin...enough said) and apparently that was a regular thing. The first time we went to visit family in WI and the Saturday test siren went off, I was scared shitless. And of course they all laughed at the city girl because it was a test. Jerks.

#9 John - everyone files out into the hallway, crouches down face first into the wall in a tight ball, and covers their head with their arms. The lower the better.

Yeah, I'm from Texas. Tornado drills. You duck and cover under your desk. Hands behind your neck. Also works for nuclear attacks.

I was living in Memphis a few years back when they had that straight line storm, which is 100 mph wind that doesn't swirl but goes, well, straight, and my roommate and I stood on the front stoop of our house and watched a 100 year old Oak tree get uprooted and topple over and across the road while drinking quarts of Miller Lite.
Maybe not the wisest move, but cool nonetheless. And then didn't have power for two weeks. Chickasaw gardens was so messed up with trees all through the middle of people's million dollar homes that we renamed it Chainsaw Gardens. You could see stars at night in the city. Crazy days.

Try living in earthquake country with a paranoid 6 year old. EVERY time a truck goes by & rattles the windows, we're like, Wha? Where's the kid? and then find her quivering under the table with all adrenal glands firing. I guess it will serve her well when the Big One finally hits, so I don't give her *too* hard a time about it.

I love that Leta's fear is so... metaphoric. You are going to have seriously Good Times with your wee existentialist.

Clearly a California raised boy. Of course you go stand in the doorway it's the strongest part of the building.

This is hilarious and totally familiar. I also grew up in KS and am now in MO and they test tornado sirens once a week here, too.

True story (because phobias must run rampant in little girls): I used to keep just enough stuffed animals in my toy cabinet to cover me, so that if anyone broke into our house at night I could climb in and hide behind said stuffed animals (which definitely included a Care Bear or two) and be totally safe and undetected. I think I was about 6, and I guess I figured my parents and 3-1/2 year old brother would figure out how to fend for themselves. (No room for you guys in here! Sorry!)

Also a handy excuse for not cleaning my room. It could be fatal to put all those toys in there at once, you know. (No room for me.)

My soon to be four year old has the same irrational fear. It started about two years ago - I'm not sure what sparked it.

He's terrified of my hair blowing when the car air conditioner is on. He would rather bake away like a roast chicken in his uber-padded car seat than have my hair lift an inch off my head. The bone-chilling guttural screaming is enough to send me into the throws of adrenaline madness.

I also have the added bonus of another fear of things disappearing down drains. If I start running the water in the bath tub to warm it up before I plug up the drain, he starts shrieking like I was taking his most prized possessions for ransom. This fear encompasses tooth brushing and toilet flushing as well. Joy.

So rest assured that you are not alone. Hopefully Leta will let this one go soon - and that my little one will follow.

In Michigan we went into the halls of the school for the tornado drill. Then we had to get on the floor & tuck our heads onto our knees & cover head with our arms..... not a fun way to sit for ten minutes! The worst was when there was a warning (tornado sighted) we had to stay that way for two hours, until it lifted... not that it would have mattered.... I was on the third floor of the school, duck & cover doesn't do much good up there! :)

as far as weird kid fears, I was sure our house would burn down... I spent YEARS with all my favorite toys wrapped in a blanket at the foot of my bed & had an escape out the window plan all worked out! :) so silly!