Tuesday, August 03, 2010

What Scares Kids, part 2

In my comment to Angie (below, previous post) I talked about the things that scared ME when I was a little kid.

The first was a song I heard in my great-aunt's kitchen when I was a little girl: They're Coming To Take Me Away. I was absolutely TERRIFIED of this song, and the fear of mentally ill people has followed me to this very day. In fact, I was in COLLEGE listening to Dr. Demento one evening, and this song came on and I was so freaked out I couldn't move. My husband can't believe this song ever scared me, because he loved it when he was a little kid.

Second goofy thing that scared me: The Dick Van Dyke episode entitled "It May Look Like a Walnut." Now, how on EARTH could anyone be scared of the Dick Van Dyke show, you may ask? Simple -- My parents went out on a date, and the babysitter let us watch this show. I was freaked out by the "eyes on the back of their heads" part of it, and when my parents got home I asked my mom, "People don't REALLY have eyes on the back of their heads, do they?" My mom, having watched the show and NOT knowing how scared I was, turned around, scratched her head, and said, "Oh, don't be so sure about that!" I screamed and ran down the hall, and to this day my mom feels horrible about how scared she made me. In fact, I just called her a few minutes ago and said, "Hey Mom! Guess what I'm watching?.... The walnut episode!" She just started laughing and said, "I'm so, so sorry I scared you!!"

So there you go... my kids come by their weird fears honestly...

7 comments:

Unknown said...

TOO funny, Ouiz! When I was a little kid, I loved "They're Coming to Take Me Away" so much that I had it completely memorized. It was one of the many, many goofy songs that I loved on my Loony Tunes album...when I was eight... :)

This post, by the way, prompted my hubby to try to find a good rendition of "Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" on YouTube, but alas, there doesn't seem to be one. Bummer. Funny the silly songs we remember from childhood!

Hope T. said...

I can't believe it! I LOVE the Dick Van Dyke show; it was/is my favorite show but I was also freaked out by that episode when I was a kid. And I was just thinking of it a few days ago because my 5 year-old said that his big brother had told him that mommies have eyes in the back of their heads. He asked me several times if I really did and I said no it is just a saying, blah,blah...being five, he had no idea what I meant. Finally, he accepted that I didn't have eyes in the back of my head but went on to say "I wonder why you don't but other moms DO." At that point, I said "I'll explain it to you in a few years." (when that good old abstract thinking kicks in)

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS on the beautiful new little guy. Newborns are so precious :)

Ouiz said...

Malia, how on earth can you like that song?????? All I need to hear is the "ka-thump ka-thump ka-thump" at the beginning and I'm done. Seriously -- it's a fast plodding/chasing sort of sound that has always conjured up images of crazy people chasing me. Creepy.

Hope, you are not alone!!! *grin* I watched that episode for the first time since I was 4 or 5 last night, and I thought, "you know, this WOULD be pretty creepy for a lttle kid!" Everyone being taken over by martians... the only human left... losing your thumbs (grin)... scary stuff for a little kid who believes everything seen is real.

I thought your child's question was awfully funny -- why don't you have eyes on the back of your head when everyone else's mom does?

matthew archbold said...

That song scared me. Something about it just felt like something was coming up the stairs to get me.

And for some reason...I don't know why...Cher scared the heck out of me. I think one night something on the Sonny and Cher show must have scared me because Sonny and Cher were characters in my nightmares for years to come.

Sonny was there but I always thought Cher was really eeeeeevil and just egging Sonny on.

Now that I'm an adult Cher scares me for entirely different reasons.

Ouiz said...

Matthew, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one in the THAT SONG IS REALLY SCARY! camp.

Sonny and Cher... I used to watch it faithfully each week (I loved her hair and how she would fling it back and forth when she sang), but I can't remember any scary episode.

Of course, I CAN remember her frightening video for "If I could Turn Back Time." blech. A bunch of sailors cheering on a practically nude Cher is NOT an image that I want in my head.

~C~ said...

I have a few unrational rational fears, like heights, and cockroaches and small dark spaces. Then I have a few that are totally off the wall, I'm terrified of.....clowns. Yep, clowns. I will go into a near panic attack if confronted with a clown. The last time I'd had an "episode" was when my oldest was 2 or so and a friend had a clown at their child's birthday party...we didn't make it to the cake. Then this past October on Halloween I had to go to the grocery store. I saw several cowboys, a few spidermen, and one or two princesses (all children) when I turned a corner onto an aisle and there he stood, all of 7 feet tall and allllll of that 7 feet was clown. The rainbow afro wig, the painted face, the stripped clothes too big and the huge shoes. I FROZE, he said hello very nicely and then kind of gave me an odd look and carried on with his shopping. I was frozen and holding my breath and didn't noticed I'd squeezed the life out of a loaf of bread I was holding. I left my cart right there on that aisle and left the store and sent my husband with a list of what we needed. :)

Ouiz said...

Casey, my husband hates clowns as well, so you're in good company! While I'm not freaked out over them, I can see why they could easily freak someone out -- it's the same sort of thing as crazy people. It's something about the smile and the big eyes. Like the Joker in Batman. Creepy.

In fact, we often laugh over the Jack Handey quote: "I think clowns are scary. I think it's because when I was little, a clown killed my dad."

OK, we've got a dark sense of humor over here, but still... clowns aren't funny.