Monday, January 7, 2008

A little Globophobia.




Nora doesn't like balloons.  At all.  When one comes near her she pulls her hands back towards her chest and cries.  I don't know how I forgot about this when I was buying some last minute things for her birthday party on Saturday morning, and decided to add a little balloon bouquet to my purchases.  Three balloons:  one pink heart, one purple heart, and one round "1st Birthday" balloon.  Super cute.  She seemed happy enough in the shopping cart with them.  Until we left the store and the wind began to blow wildly.  It was like she was being attacked by the balloons.  I was moving that shopping cart as quickly as possible, but by the time we got to the car she was in tears, and almost lying flat to avoid the wrath of the balloons.  I thought things would be better once we were in the comfort of our home.  I was wrong.  I didn't think about what Julian would do when he saw the balloons.  He LOVES balloons.  He ran non-stop for 20 minutes with the balloons.  Every time he went by Nora she would shriek.  Poor thing.  Half way through the birthday party I decided to put the balloons in the laundry room.  The day after the party I knew I had to dispose of them.  They were just causing too much trouble.  They were still so pretty though.  I didn't want to throw them out.  I decided while the children were napping I would have a little solitary balloon release in the back yard.  I held the balloons up, and let them go.  I thought of a little angel in heaven who would love them when they got there.  It was a beautiful moment.  Then my paranoia set in.  Is it legal to release balloons in Canada?  I ran inside to my computer to Google "Canada balloon release law".  It turns out that it is illegal to release more than 10 balloons within 24 hours.  So, I think I was within the confines of the law.  Stranger than the balloon release law is that when I Googled "fear of balloons" I discovered that there is an actual, treatable phobia called Globophobia.  I think I'll just hope she outgrows it.

jbxo

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ah poor little noo noo. is there a support group for globophobics?
:-))

Anonymous said...

Perhaps for Nora's next b-day we should invest in some therapy for her.

Anonymous said...

can I just say helium is (apparently) going to run out in less than 10 years!

hold tight!

Anonymous said...

This was a very cute story that I stumbled upon in my own search for information. But as a 38 year old woman who knows many Globophobics, I feel that I must inform you that most often time does not heal this wound.

I am not suggesting therapy or treatment of any kind but if you do go in that direction, please make sure it is with a caring and sympathetic individual.

All that best to you and your family :)