10 Things that Traumatized Me as a Child
I swear, I didn’t mean for this blog to turn into the place where
Becky lists things, but as it turns out, these are the topics that I tend to
get excited about writing and most of the lists are already half-formed in my
head. Hopefully we’ll get off the list
trend pretty soon here and make it so that they make occasional appearances but
aren’t featured everyday. Hopefully y’all will enjoy this one. Writing it was
like a very uncomfortable trip down memory lane. (And memory lane was filled with kidnappers,
scary cartoons and tornadoes.)
10. Mick Harte was Here by Barbara Park:
Maybe I’m the only kid who read this book as a child and maybe I’m the
only one who should. Because although it
is a fantastic book for teaching kids and preteens what it’s like to deal with
death, there are excerpts from that book
that I can still remember word for word because they haunt me to this day. Quick summary, it’s about a 12 year old girl
who’s 11 year old brother dies in a bicycle/car collision. Like I said, it’s a great resource for
parenting and teaching because it really is all about the grieving process, but
for anyone who has a brother or siblings, it’s going to stay with you for a
while.
9. The Columbine Shooting
I was in fourth grade when this happened and, at the time, was
probably too young to fully understand the horror and the sick-to-my-stomach
feeling that I get now whenever I think about it, but I still recall having one
or two nightmares in the years that followed.
And that nagging fear stayed with me, pretty much all the way through
high school and college. My mom worked
in a high school at the time and I’d worry about something bad like that
happening at her school. Anytime I was
in class and I’d hear a random unexplained noise from outside the classroom
like a bang or a shout, the first thing I’d think about was Columbine. I’m sure I’m not alone in that one.
8. Stranger Danger Presentation
In middle school, I remember this one time we all had to file into the
gym, sit in the bleachers and watch the “Stranger Danger” presentation. This is the one where they scare the shit out
you by telling you that literally every person you make eye contact with on the
street is plotting to rape and kill you.
Those damn scare tactics work, though because when I used to walk home
from school and my usual buddy wasn’t with me, I was convinced that every
single car that was driven by a rapist/kidnapper. Usually, they weren’t. Or at least, if they were, they didn’t bother
me. I’m still traumatized by Stranger
Danger. I have a mini panic attack when
I’m home alone at night and the phone rings.
Who wouldn't get in that van?
7. Twister
Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton are absolutely atrocious, but that’s not
the part of the movie that traumatized me.
I credit this movie as being about 90% responsible for my childhood fear
of thunderstorms and anxiety attacks that they would result in. The other 10% I can attribute to Wizard of
Oz. Seriously, watching this movie when
you’re a 5 year old growing up in New York is all well and good…until your
parents tell you that you have to move to Kansas. Universal Studios, I think you owe my parents
for all the sleepless nights and the therapy bills. No kid should ever have to suffer the terror
of watching a) a child’s father being violently sucked into oblivion by a
tornado or b) Helen Hunt in a wet, muddy tank top or c) Helen Hunt in a wet,
muddy tank top making out with Bill Paxton’s gap-tooth. Ew.
Yecch.
6. That One Episode of Rugrats
This episode, titled: In The Dreamtime follows our hero, Chuckie
Finster, as he struggles to tell the difference between real life and his often
terrifying dreams. (Actually, this kind
of sounds like something Dostoyevsky would have written.) Anyway, if you’re a child of the 90s, then
this episode is probably burned into your memory because of this.
Yeah, like you could ever forget that. Chuckie, and later Chaz (and
most notably, the audience) get the shit scared out of them by two nightmarish
versions of Tommy and Stu, speaking in what can only be describe as the devil’s
cartoon voice. I had to close my eyes
when this part came on, and probably still would. The Mr. Fiend episode of Rugrats would
probably qualify for this list too.
Actually, a lot of Rugrats, now that I think of it. Chuckie’s nightmare world when he’s not
wearing his glasses, anyone?
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
If you’ve ever read any of these stories, then you know they’re your
pretty typical, run-of-the-mill stories to read at a slumber party. But if you’ve ever read them, then you also
know that the terrifying part about these books is not the stories, but the
illustrations. They are some of the most
disturbing, unsettling images that I have ever seen and they’re in a kid’s
book! I had a copy of this anthology in
the ISS room at work so kids could read it if they were bored. 90% of them would just flip through and gasp
at the pictures. Another kid asked me if
I could put the book face down on the table so she didn’t have to look at the
cover. I said yes, of course.
Just looking up those pictures on Google was terrifying.
4. Fire Alarms
I was terrified of fire alarms as a kid. Like, my parents would have to console me
because I was so petrified of having a fire drill at school. There’s gotta be a better way to alert
teachers and students that there’s a fire.
Like maybe a pleasing voice with a British accent that makes an
announcement over the P.A. system or that “Somebody call 911” Sean Kingston
song. Then at least students could be
grooving on their way out the door. I
still hate fire drills at my current job.
No one ever tells me when we’re going to have them. Our administrators plan them well in advance
and usually everyone else in the office gets the memo except me. So they’ve all got their walkies and jackets
and are ready to go while I’m still sitting at my desk, pinning cupcake recipes
and unaware that I’m about the have the shit scared outta me. Fire alarms, man. Fire alarms.
3. That Episode of As Told By Ginger
Remember the episode where Ginger wants to go to
Courtney’s birthday party but Miranda tricks her into getting herself
arrested? That was a good one, but not
the episode that traumatized me. It was
the one where Ginger writes that depressing, suicidal-sounding poem for a
school contest and all the adults flip out on her. The poem itself is pretty dark, but at the
end of the episode when they narrate the poem over this weird, dystopian
black-and-white universe that features a skeletal looking girl with black hair,
it actually ended up being pretty disturbing.
You can search it on Youtube if you want to watch. The poem was called “And She Was Gone.” This definitely gave me the heebie-jeebies as
a kid.
2. My Brother Being an Asshole
I’m not a shrink, but maybe this has something to
do with why I still won’t get in a car with my brother behind the wheel. Back when we were kids and we were going
somewhere in the van, we’d all be buckled in and maybe Mom would go bring the
shopping cart back or she forgot something inside the house, but for whatever
reason, the three of us sometimes wound up in the car by ourselves. My brother would pretend like he was going to
start the car and drive it. I freaked out.
If he went anywhere near the driver’s seat, I was probably screaming or
crying or some combination of the two.
Of course, Mom probably didn’t ever leave the car on and even if she
did, I doubt my 4 year old brother would have known how to operate it but
weirder shit has happened before, right?
Sometimes, brothers are jerks. To
this day, he still enjoys pretending that he’s about to throw something at me
because he knows I’ll flinch like an idiot, no matter what.
1. Thunderstorms
The movie Twister was probably what made me develop
this fear, but any of my family members can tell you that I didn’t get over
that shit for a long time. I’d say there
was a period between kindergarten and 8th grade when I would
seriously panic whenver there was a cloud in the sky or a chance of rain. I would make
myself sick with worry and then go to the nurse’s office at school and try and
convince her that I needed to go home. Probably
a precursor to my adult struggles with anxiety but we’re going to leave the
psycoanalysis to Freud. Let’s just say
that living in Kansas as a child terrified of thunderstorms was not
particularly fun.
So, that’s all she wrote. And by “she” I mean me. What kind of things traumatized you as a
child? Or as an adult, for that matter? Leave me some comments and let me know. And if you like what you’re reading on my
blog, make sure you come back and visit it.
I try to put up at least something every day.
Next Time on I
Have a Blog Now
A Doctor Who Discussion (It’s coming, I swear!)
Shit Parents Complain About
I Pick Ugly Guys
Hope you guys, enjoyed. As always, thanks for ready. I'll see you back here tomorrow!
Becky
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