Kids Scared of Storms

[turnpup]

When I was a kid in the 70s, we didn't have anywhere near the technology we have now. I remember how scary it was, when the sirens would fire off, that awful wailing noise, and we'd hunker down in the (very dank-smelling, very creepy) basement of some neighbors on the next block. The men would stay upstairs in the garage and smoke cigarettes and talk. The women and children were forced to just sit and wait. I remember staring at all the rows of home-canned fruits and vegetables down there. My greatest fear was that our house would be blown away. I guess nobody told me about insurance.

Fast-forward to NOW. I'm fascinated with storms, perhaps because of my early fear of them. OKC Talk's discussion, as well as Venture's chat room, are my go-to places when there's inclement weather. I take a calm, scientific approach to everything. Never panic. But for some reason, my little girl (who is 8) gets really scared when this stuff happens. Take tonight, for instance. The minute it started to hail, she jumped up from the dinner table and ran down to the basement den. She started (almost in tears) begging me and her daddy to come down there with her. He acquiesced (just to placate her), but I stayed up here.

I very calmly and logically attempted to keep her abreast of things as they happened. When it started hailing really hard, I reported on it. When the sirens sounded, I let her know that it was only because it was in Oklahoma County, but not for our immediate area. I made sure she knew that the Moore tornado was not anywhere near us, and that there wasn't anything (save the hail) else that would happen tonight. She asked me to bring her her bicycle helmet. She wasn't freaking out or anything, but she was clearly scared beyond what she should've been.

What can I do, if anything, to help her not have to feel like this every time there's a storm? I thought she'd be all right in light of my scientific approach to things, but it still seems like this is an issue for her.

[BrettM2]

My kids also get nervous about these things. I keep them updated and then taught them about the radar when it was over. That seemed to help (after the fact). Maybe just work with her over the next few days, teach her how to observe and understand. Maybe then she'll feel more prepared/in control when the next round starts.

[Jim Kyle]

Some of her fear, I'm confident, results from the super-hype panic projected by most of the TV icons who tend to be Chicken Littles whenever there's even a minor excuse for so being, in the prediction models. You might be able to counteract that to some degree by pointing out all the comments about same being made in Venture's areas.

It's a simple fact, though, that some youngsters are blessed (cursed?) with extremely graphic imaginations, and consequently anticipate much more dramatic happenings from any unusual event, than are likely to actually occur. Of my three sons, one tended in that direction -- although not as dramatically as your daughter, he does still tend to be a bit fearful of unexpected events even though he will be 55 next month! For such a situation as this, I think the approach you're already using is probably the best you can do -- and it might help to suggest to her that she try writing out her anticipation of what might happen. I happen to be fairly well acquainted with several professional fiction writers, and they all seem to find that over-active imagination to be one of their greatest assets!

[Pete]

I wonder if all the media coverage about the school kids in Moore created a situation where it became much more personal to her? As in: It could happen to me. Might ask her specifically why she is so scared so you can address it.

That really stinks for your entire family but especially for her. That's pretty acute anxiety and springtime in Oklahoma has to be miserable for her.

[Mel]

Like Jim said, watch but don't listen to the local twister mongers. Work with her on watching radar on the comp because kids are so knowledgeable about using e-media, and always let her know that Mommy and Daddy will always protect her. The power of Mother Nature can be overwhelming even for Adults.

[turnpup]

Thank you all for your advice! I'm going to keep trying to be logical and sensible about this stuff. FWIW, we don't really watch the network guys much at all, except like tonight where they had helicopter footage. Even then, I had it muted for much of the time.

She is quite interested in the radar loop. We look at it a lot on my phone.

As soon as the sky brightened, so did she. She wanted to go outside and collect hail. We brought a bunch of hailstones inside and she put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Kids are sure interesting, aren't they?

[Mel]

"She wanted to go outside and collect hail. We brought a bunch of hailstones inside and she put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Kids are sure interesting, aren't they?" um, I've done that too.

[TU 'cane]

As a few folks have already stated, best not to let them watch the news.
Last night I was very irritated by how some of the meteorologists were getting "excited" (not exactly excited, but almost panicky) about the tornadoes. I know it's a rush, whether you're in your house, a news studio, or outside in it, but the number one rule with severe weather: STAY CALM. I also understand that people are depending on them and they follow a better safe than sorry attitude. I understand, but sometimes they come off as a little edgy and people, particularly kids, can feed off of that.
We live in a time of sensationalist media, local and national. Proof? We've started naming winter storms...

The news is what always frightened me when I was younger. Now, I do what most Okies do, I go outside and look when the sirens go off. People say that's stupid, but I'm genuinely interested. It's better than sitting in a closet for 3 hours just waiting it out, in my personal opinion.
It's hard with kids, the only thing I can say is educate them. Every Oklahoman needs to be somewhat knowledgeable of the weather. Maybe entice them to go outside with you under your porch (although take caution... Lightning, wind, etc.) and just show them what's going on. I'm not sure, it's one of those case by case dilemmas I guess.

[turnpup]

Mel, if it makes you feel any better, it was my husband who first went outside to collect the hailstones. After my daughter saw them, she wanted to go get some more. You must be a big kid at heart, like my guy. : )

Yes, I agree with everyone that education is absolutely the best thing for ensuring the kids aren't too scared, which is why I was surprised that my daughter got so freaky yesterday. We constantly look at the radar loop together, discuss various weather phenomena, etc. I suspect that it was the combination of the sudden darkness, hail, and then the wailing of the sirens that got to her. Up until that point, she was totally cool with the approaching storm. We had been looking at the clouds building and were awaiting the first gusts of wind. I can't say I blame her for her fears, though. Golf ball and baseball size hail certainly makes a lot of noise--especially in a house with a bunch of windows and glass doors.

As for the TV, I didn't even turn it on until the hail started, and then it was on mute until the sirens started going off. By that time, she was downstairs in the basement. But as I'm typing this, I realize that my husband had the TV on, and the volume turned up. So the little one did hear and see a lot of stuff that might've scared her. She was a little hard to get to sleep last night, but was completely fine this morning. All is well.

[Roger S]

Not a kid but my ex-wife was from Scotland and she was terrified of our weather even without the TV hype.

I can be a pretty sarcstic person but weather was the one thing she knew I wasn't joking around about.

[kevinpate]

Our children, now grown, were raised to have a healthy mixture of awe and respect for storms. Well, once their mother got tired of hauling them across town to 'shelters' or to a friend's hidey-hole they were. They hated the friend's hidey hole more than I ever hated the one my Mama preferred back home when I was growing up. Mind you, I truly loved Mamie and Jess, but lawdy I hated their hidey hole with a passion.

FWIW, yeah, they do sound a lot like trains, something my lovely still wishes she did not know.

[turnpup]

Kevin, I've always wondered if the "sounds like trains" is like the whistle, or the engine, or something else? Luckily I've never had the pleasure of being that close to a tornado.

[Jim Kyle]

Turnpup, since I had the dubious pleasure of being only some 15 feet below the funnel of an F1 or F2 back in 1951 at Fort Sill the first night of my ROTC summer camp, I can tell you what it sounded like to me: The heavy hail surrounding the wind itself was much like the clickety-clack of train wheels running over a rail joint, while the wind blast was similar to the "whoosh" you hear when a train goes by at 60 or 70 MPH, only louder.

I was beneath my cot in a 9-man squad tent, as were 8 of the 9 of us (the 9th was sound asleep and missed most of the action). It lasted only a few seconds, maybe as long as a minute. When things got quiet, we rolled out to survey the damage. The tent itself was gone, as were all our newly-issued uniforms. The 2x4 rafters and ridgepole were shattered. One of the broken rafters was impaling my pillow to the mattress. Another was poking through the screen of the tent next door.

Amazingly, only one person was injured -- an officer from Missouri who tried to hold a door closed when the wind hit. However 99 observation planes at Post Field were destroyed, and a number of huge trees were uprooted.

I hope you never have to get that close to one. The power is simply unbelievable even when you see it!

[Mel]

"Mel, if it makes you feel any better, it was my husband who first went outside to collect the hailstones. After my daughter saw them, she wanted to go get some more. You must be a big kid at heart, like my guy. : )" Guilty as charged. Mt DW threw out my collection last year. Wanted all of the deep freeze space. My favorite was a real knobby tennis ball size. It must have traveled up and down in that particular cloud to get all the smaller ones to freeze together.

[turnpup]

Jim, thanks for the vivid description! Apparently you and your ROTC mates were meant to stick around awhile. Tornado damage--the way it can leave something untouched while demolishing something right next door--has always fascinated me.