This week we discovered that Miss Preslie has an intense fear of shiny tile floors. She has always ridden in the cart, so I don't know if she has ever walked on this kind of floor before, but this week she had us all to herself with bro and sisses at Noni and Papas, so she had a little more freedom. On Wednesday, we were at Sears buying some flat screens for the OAC and Preslie was running around electronics like a crazed maniac, so excited to be out of the cart. At first, I thought her flip flops were hurting her feet, but then I noticed that she'd run on the carpet and as soon as she came to the tile, she'd freeze, point to it and shake her head before shuffling her feet in the tiniest baby steps I have ever seen to try to walk on it. I wondered if she thought it was wet and was afraid she'd slip and fall. Had that happened to her before without us knowing? Was this a healthy fear in response to a bad experience, or some weird phobia? It was the strangest thing, but I just forgot about it, until...
I took her to Hobby Lobby with me yesterday to get some more decor for the OAC and she did it again. She'd freeze when I sat her down to walk and cling to whatever was behind her, holding on as she shuffled her little feet to the side to walk across it. Then she'd just reach her little arms up for me to hold her, overcome by her fear. It was so sad. I decided to forget what I was there for and teach her that she could walk on this floor without fear. I held her hand and we walked together, slowly...ever so slowly at first, and then by the time we made it to the front she had over come that stinkin' fear and was walking like the confident little 2 year old she is. Victory!
