Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Our little grandson is into the night terrors.  First it was spiders, now it is cows.  He woke up last night from a nightmare and his parents had a rough time getting him back to sleep.  If we go to a nearby children's farm, he won't get near the "Cowees" and if you ask him what sound they make, he gives you a ferocious growl instead of a moo.  When I pause to think about it, all four of my kids had fears and terrors, and it makes sense:  it's a strange and mysterious world they are born into, and everything looks huge and is noisy and startling.  My kids had night lights, blankies, stuffies, and parents who shuffled in like zombies trying to reassure them.  And we carry these fears with us like strings attached.  I don't like basements, stairs going up heights, looking down canyons, snakes, and rats.  I know the origins of most of these fears, but that doesn't help.  The fear is primal, and no amount of rationalization can soothe me.  The little fellow is joining the human condition, and it's not always easy.