This made me actually laugh out loud this morning. This was my sweet Liam before getting on the log jamboree at Six Flags this weekend– poor baby! These were his questions in line, through tears— “Do you get in the water first or straight into the boat? What if the boat tips over? What if the water is dirty? What if your cell phone gets wet?” I laughed so hard (in my head) at him and his flight of ideas/possibilities! For the record, he loved it and none of his what ifs happened (except the water probably was dirty..)!

Poor baby, it definitely comes honest for him.  He has overcome so many of his (irrational) fears in the last few years, and I am so incredibly proud of him.  Often times as a mom, you feel like “Am I doing this right?”  When it comes to Liam and his anxiety, we have won a lot of battles.  He was terrified to take a bath (literally stood in the bathtub until he was 18 months or older), terrified of elevators, terrified of automatically closing doors, terrified of being left, terrified of doctor’s offices, terrified of haircuts, and the list goes on and on.  This sweet boy has overcome every single one of these fears, and is even riding “big kid” rides at Six Flags.

Just like ADHD, anxiety is so crazy real.  And I tell my patients “It’s all in your head, but only because your brain lives in your head!”  Anxiety is not something that you can just not experience.  But, it does not have to keep you from enjoying life either.  A book that I read recently, kind of retrospective to Liam’s most anxious days, but LOVED is called How to Parent Your Anxious Toddler.  My bff said “It basically says what all you said to do, but it gives it a name.”  HA!  Thanks, Jenna.  There are some fantastic strategies for dealing with anxiety (for toddlers and big people too!) as well as helping to understand how fears that seem so irrational to you, can make so much sense to a person with anxiety.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you add it to your “To Read” stack.  Click the picture of the book to purchase this book from Amazon:

(Above is my Affiliate link with Amazon.  Although I absolutely love this book, and have recommended it to a million and one friends and patients already, if you use this link to purchase it, I get a small commission for my recommendation.   If you don’t want to contribute to my Help Chasidy Stay at Home with her Kiddos fund, feel free to go to Amazon a different way, but BUY THIS BOOK!) :):)