The Dark Side

The logos can bring such joy and happiness, but they also can bring panic and anger. There is one logo that is so "scary" to Daniel that it holds our family hostage. This is the logo that he fears will show up on the T.V. therefore, he will not watch any show that isn't on HGTV, Nickelodeon, TLC, The Disney Channel, or PBS. Anything else, is unacceptable and he'll leave the room, often running, for fear of what the next commercial will be.

We cannot go to ANY restaurant that has T.V.'s on because he goes into a panic. We have sat in the car countless times as my husband runs in to see if the establishment has TVs. If it's a small place and no one's there, we've requested they turn them off so we can dine in peace. One little place by us used to do that. There were also times when someone was watching a game and we had to move on and go somewhere else.

We won't be going to Tiger Stadium any time soon. Said logo is ALL over the stadium. We went ONCE. Enough said???? We spent the whole time in the area where the restaurants and carousels are, and are logo free.

When we were driving to bike camp last summer in the Detroit area, we passed billboards on the way, bigger than life, with the horrible logo upon it. Luckily in our area, we don't have this business, so we don't, yet, need to change the route somewhere due to "scary signs". After the first day going to camp, he knew where the billboards were, and when we'd be getting close I'd glance behind me to see Daniel bent over with his head between his knees, hiding his face until we had passed into safety. I'd be telling him happily that it's just a picture, nothing can happen from it. Everything is o.k. Wasting my breath once again.

I suppose you'd like to see the most evil logo ever invented. The logo that prevents any sports from being on in any room near Daniel. That if basketball is on in our basement, he is upstairs with all the doors closed. That if I go ahead with the speech therapist's suggestion and I bring him to individual sessions at $50 a pop, she will work on desensitizing him to it. Ready?

Isn't it frightening? LOL? My only thought is that when he was maybe 3 we had a little stuffed Belle Tire guy that someone had given us. This is when we lived in the Detroit area for a few years. When you squeezed it it said "Belle Tire" in a sort of demonic way. He hated that and I think that's where it stems from. But here we are EIGHT years later being held hostage by the Belle Tire guy. The panic that this smiling little tire instills in my child is unbelievable. I still haven't been driven (pun!) to doling out the $$$ to try to get him over this. I'm not sure what the therapist would do, because if you even start talking about it he starts yelling at you to stop talking. If she persisted he would probably refuse to see her ever again. Does any one's child have an irrational fear that you have had to help them deal with? I'd love to hear your ideas!

PS thanks Beck for your suggestion!