Skunk Phobia

So we went to the theme park on Monday.
In August, the girls and I visited the same theme park with a friend and her two children. It was maybe 9:30 or 10:00pm when we got back to the friend's house to drop them off. While we were there in the car , we saw a skunk sniffing around the yard very near us. It was kind of funny. My friend and I joked about them coming home with us since they couldn't get out of the car, but finally the skunk moseyed away far enough that my friend and her kids felt safe jumping out of the car and running inside.

When we got back home, Peanut just knew there would be a skunk in OUR yard, and was afraid to get out of the car and come inside, only doing so under extreme protest.

No mention of skunks was made again until our family went back to the theme park Monday. About halfway through the day, between various exciting rides, shows, and attractions, Peanut asked me how late it would be when we got home. I told her it would probably be pretty late, and that it would definitely be dark when we got home.

She looked worried, and said, "Oh no, I'm afraid there will be skunks in our yard when we get home!"

I asked her what made her think there would be skunks in our yard. We have never seen a skunk around our house (although I did get close enough to one to feel his fur while camping once, but that's a whole other story).

She answered that since we saw skunks in our friends' yard after the last theme park trip, and it was late when we got home THAT time, and since we were at the same theme park and were going to get home late TODAY, they might be in our yard this time.

We put her on some nauseatingly fun ride and she forgot about skunks for awhile, but the subject came up again three more times before we got home, where she was very relieved to find a skunk-free yard.

When I think about the way she forms ideas.... taking similar events and situations and using them to reach her own little erroneous conclusions about what will happen next if Event A is followed by Situation B, considering what happened last time Event A was followed by Situation B...... I just want to kiss every freckle on her speckled little face and tell her not to THINK SO MUCH!