PARENTHOOD

by David W. Proefrock, PhD

You bought a small swimming pool for your 3-year-old daughter, but when you tried to get her in the pool, she screamed and was obviously afraid of the water. What do you do?

A. Let her stand outside the pool and play with toys in the water. Allow her to get used to the water gradually.

B. Put the pool away until next summer when she’s a little older. It seems to be a bad idea for her now.

C. Put her in the pool and make her stay there until she isn’t scared anymore realizes that the pool is nothing to be afraid of.

D. Invite a couple of children close to her age to come over and play in the pool. She will join them.

If you answered:

A. This is a good plan. It allows her to approach the water in the pool at her own pace. It probably won’t take her very long to get over her fear.

B. Without further exposure to the water in the pool, there is no reason to believe that she will get over her fear.

C. It is unlikely that this will work and there is no reason to put her through the trauma.

D. This could work and it would be worth a try, but fears don’t respond to social pressure. It is just as likely that it wouldn’t work.

Fears are not always explainable, but they are real. A gradual approach to dealing with them is aways best.

Dr. Proefrock is a retired local clinical and forensic child psychologist.