Sunday, January 27, 2008

For the sake of love

In my 31 years of existence I have cultivated a few fears and phobias. I'd like to think of myself as an intrepid adventurer, but there are two things that make me quiver and shiver every time.

1. lizards of all shapes, kinds and sizes, even toy lizards and pictures of lizards
2. heights, especially when riding cable cars, flying in planes, or looking down from a dizzying height, say, in a mall a mere 5 storeys high

I've semi-conquered my fear of heights mainly because hubby and little boy love riding cable cars, and because I love to travel. How else will I get to places, right? I can't very well simmer and stew on a half-year voyage in a ship.

Lizards are another thing...I thought I would fear them forever, in my own illogical way. And my fear is something I think they sense, because they tend to jump out of car roofs, from under bags in a bazaar, onto silly, 'fraidy cat me. They show themselves to me wherever I go. Hubby laughs and says I'm being paranoid, but hey, how many people out there have had lizards saying hello from cars and bags, huh?

Now the darned thing is, little boy loves animals. He used to be fond of elephants and all sorts of cats but his true loves are, you guessed it, REPTILES. He has three pet turtles back in Manila, and countless giant dinosaur, snake, crocodile, lizard and alligator toys in his room. So here I am, the woman who fears them like crazy, the girl who didn't speak to a primary school friend for a week because she put a rubber lizard in my uniform pocket, the mom who didn't give her son any milk for a night because a lizard was in her tiny kitchen, the one who screams upon touching any page where lizards abound -- allowing my son to play with the creatures on my bed, and bravely touching a toy crocodile.




Oh, what mothers do for love.:)