Fears

Ah we all have them. Fears of things. I have a few that strike me cold. I can rationalise where two of them come from. I have this fear of pneumonia - it comes from Mom and her stroke. In fact when I heard George Michael had pneumonia last week, I was most concerned. Was at the doctor yesterday and thankfully, I go to a practice that realises I'm slightly neurotic over that particular bug - so gave me a full check up. I guess, it's because Mom's wasn't diagnosed and then she ended up having a stroke which has changed our lives beyond comparison to what life was. Anyway, there's a fear that can be explained away.

My other fear is snakes. Seeing them on the tv, gives me shivers, makes me break out into a cold sweat and I'm frozen to the sofa (never a bad thing - I do love my sofa). But this is a new fear. I never used to be so scared of snakes. I was fascinated by them, have held more than a couple (in a controlled environment of course) but since I've had my son some 13 years ago, I'm absolutely petrified of them. I've had precisely two encounters with snakes where they have crept up on me and made me run screaming into the horizon, so it's not like they are a part of my life and wait outside for a chance to jump out at me. So what's the deal? I had to choose not to see Harry Potter in 3d because I was petrified of that huge snake lunging into my face....and that was a Hollywood snake - obviously more in love with Brazillians and fake tans than eating me.

Totally irrational. I check my toilet every night before I go to bed and have considered putting the child lock back on to it - I mean you hear stories of snakes finding their way through the pipes into houses that way...sneaky snakes slithering. I hope the older my son gets, the less I will fear snakes but it's not happening. It must be hormones? I know my mom was all of a sudden scared of heights after I was born. Could this be a contraceptive device? I could have another child and be scared of cupcakes!!