Conquering Fear

For all of her bold brashness, Abby is my fearful child. She has been like that since she was 2 or so. We limit what she watches on television or in the movie theatre, we send her sisters with her if she has to go down to the basement or to the garage, and we don't force her to ride scary rides, Oh wait! I don't force her to ride scary rides. Her dad gently persuades her. Such was the case last week in Orlando at Disney's Hollywood Studio where she told us in a panicky voice that she was not going to ride the "Rockin Roller Coaster."

I was content with that. Day 1 she sat outside the roller coaster with her Opa and her cousin Ben (who was too short to ride) and even her little sister telling her that it was "Awesome" couldn't convince her to ride so she sat outside with her Aunt Sara. The second day we went back to the park, it was just the five of us. Bud and I both wanted to ride and this is when Bud's gentle persuasion came in. He was convinced that she would have a great time if she just did it. She let herself be led into line (thank goodness we just walked on to the ride) and I told him that she was riding with him because I wouldn't be responsible if she hated it. Guess what? He was right. She loved it. Maybe not the 0-60 mile per hour start but the loop, the corkscrew, the quick turns, she got out of the car smiling and said " I want to do it again and so we did!!

Maddie and Abby outside the Rockin Roller Coaster