Consecotaleophobia

Daddy and Mommy have been going through a bit of illness this week, so it hasn't been the most active of days for us.  Daddy's been writing his devotional dedicated to "No Fear," which is our theme for October.  It's going to be a fun series, but as with all of these series, there's quite a bit of work to be done.

So we got an "Atlantis" book at Goodwill a while back - it's an atlas of sorts that had a lot of pictures and descriptions in it.  You could call it an Atlantis Atlas.  Anyway, it's actually a pretty big book, going into way too many more details than most people really need or care to know.  Still, Madison has been really into this book, turning the pages and letting us know who is who.  Well, tonight it was time to show her the movie - and of course she was game.

But FIRST:  We wrapped up homework (finding things that start with the letter "L").  This has been a fun homework assignment, finding things that start with a particular letter each week, cutting them out and pasting them to a sheet of paper.  Madison found all kinds of things that start with L, one of the more unusual being King Julian.  He's a lemur.

NEXT, there was piano practice.  This is just about every day, of course.  As of late, one of the things we do with Madison are duets.  Daddy or Mommy will play one part, while Madison plays the other hand's part.  Her rhythm is getting better with these too.  But it's still fun playing the piano together.  Eventually, we'll get to "chopsticks," of course.  Oh, speaking of "chopsticks," here's one of our more unusual entries for the devotional:

Consecotaleophobia:  A Fear of Chopsticks

     Can you imagine having consecotaleophobia, a fear of chopsticks?  It sounds very ususual, but we here at the No Fear Phobia Center have seen certain patients enter with a completely irrational fear of chopsticks.  Just the very idea of going to a Chinese restaurant sends shivers up their spines!

     Why would anyone on earth fear chopsticks?  In all of our cases, it's this simple answer:  they have no idea how to use them.  They fear chopsticks because they're afraid of trying to use them in front of everyone, and they're really afraid of failing.  Does that sound familiar?

      When you put it that way, everyone's had a fear of something in their life:  we've all had to try something for the first time.  Not many start out an expert, and everyone has failed when trying something new.  But just like with a bicycle, you've got to simply get back up again and try once more if you want to get better at something. 

     Don't be afraid to try something new.  Don't let the risk of failing stop you either.  You can and will be an expert at whatever you put your mind to, just so long as you keep practicing.  You can even be an expert with chopsticks - and never fear going to a Chinese restaurant again!

     For the record, Madison does not have any fear of chopsticks.  She actually prefers them, using them frequently with noodles, or even dry breakfast cereal.  Come to think of it, she's pretty good with 'em!  No fear there!