Jan McNulty Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The topic of phobias/serious dislikes came up in a separate thread. As people seem to want to talk about it a bit I thought I would start a topic here (but nothing to heavy please). I have got a phobia about balloons. I don't know when it started but I expect it was people exploding them when I was young. It is so bad now that I cannot even bear to look at deflated balloons. I am not quite as bad with the foil balloons but I still don't like people playing with them. My colleagues were always very good and never put up balloons at Christmas or for leaving parties after the state they saw it reduced me to. I have a friend who has a serious dislike of buttons. Over the years she has schooled herself to be able to fasten the one button at the top of her jeans. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooZoo Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Yup - buttons for my son. He was ok with Coraline though! It is scary I thought! He won't wear buttons and poppers are not much better! All his trousers are elasticated or slidey clip thing. No buttons for waistband adjustments - the worst - secret buttons next to your tummy! His school polo was zip instead of buttons for years! He has now (aged 9) conceded to wearing a polo with two small buttons but he keeps his jumper on (even in summer ) to hide them. Yup - it's weird! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 Not a phobia but I can't bear the thought of baked beans on the same plate as an egg. I do love baked beans, just not anywhere near an egg. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 (edited) Agree about that film Coraline - those button eyes - horrible! Hated every minute of it, although dd was fine... When dd was tiny she had a terror of electric motors, especially the hot-air hand dryers in ladies' toilets, I used to pray that no-one would dry their hands while I was in the loo, as I'd parked her buggy in the only available space (which is usually right beside the dryers). She would scream the place down. I'm scared of car washes, something to do with being trapped in a car under loads of water I think; and I give those daddylonglegs things a wide berth too, yuk! Edited to add: - and beards! Edited November 6, 2012 by taxi4ballet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 My daughter had the usual spider phobia and went on a one-day course at the London Zoo. By the end they were passing round a giant tarantula from hand to hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 We saw the giant tarantulas at London Zoo too, DD and I were fine, but I couldn't even get hubby to come in the building! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Spiders - especially when they are in the car! We had to stop in a lay-by to, I am afraid to so say, send one to the spider web in the sky. Non-DD did the deed, but the body fell into the air vent. I switched this on and the body shot into the foot well. Whilst extracitng this I managed to attach myself to a hedge of sticky buds - some would call it Karma! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I don't like spiders but it's only certain types; the big black ones with long hairy legs literally freak me out. I try to hide my fear for dd's sake but I can't even catch those ones under a glass. DH has to rescue them. Little money spiders are fine though. I had a serious phobia of thunderstorms right up until dd was born. Even in my 20s I wouldn't be able to move a muscle if it thundered at night. I couldn't even get a hand out from under the covers to switch the bedside light on. I was so determined to make sure that dd didn't inherit my thunder phobia that I used to lie through my teeth when it was thundering. I'd take her to the window to watch and say "look, isn't it lovely?" :-D. I have no idea how I lied so convincingly but thankfully it worked! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 C S Lewis, in The Silver Chair, said something about the giants/gods having a bowling match being the noise for thunder? Can't quite remember it all, but I tried to explain this to my children when they were very young, it seemed to work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullContretemps Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Buttons, ribbons and lace. Though I have trained myself to deal with ballet shoe ribbons, and though mostly I buy trousers where I don't have to undo the button, I can now deal with this but agree with the secret one next to your tummy! Wobbly ones are what really gets me. Makes me shudder like fingers on a blackboard. I don't mind looking at them mostly (unless they are pearly or wobbly) but please don't ask me to touch. Makes working with children (I'm a nanny) a little challenging at times... I am, however, resident spider-remover for my sister who really hates them. I'd rather not touch unless they're quite little, but don't mind them otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 C S Lewis, in The Silver Chair, said something about the giants/gods having a bowling match being the noise for thunder? Can't quite remember it all, but I tried to explain this to my children when they were very young, it seemed to work That's lovely. :-) DD used to wonder why our Border Collie was so frightened of thunder when she wasn't, so I used to say " Poor Rolf doesn't understand that's it's just another type of weather, like snow or wind". I know why my phobia came about - when I was a toddler, my parents went out leaving my very superstitious Welsh grandma to look after me. I don't remember it, but apparently they came back during a bad thunderstorm to find that my granny had turned the mirrors to face the wall, covered the knives with a cloth, and was banging tin trays together "to keep the devil away"! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Spanner, sounds like you could have developed a phobia about your granny instead! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Wasps! I am allergic to their sting and if one comes near me I try not to panic and yet I start to hyperventilate every time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Fiz - I've never understood the purpose of wasps! I run around like a headless chicken when they come near and as far as I am aware I'm not allergic to their sting, just can't abide them. In fact most creatures beginning with an "S" give me the shivers, spiders, snakes, scorpions, I can feel my skin creeping now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomuchtallent Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Flying,my dh is terrified!if he has no choice to fly the minute he buys the ticket he gets panic attacks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 How could I forget snakes, Porthesia! I loathe them. I used to be fascinated by them but on one famous occasion at Poole vivarium, a cobra reared up us I went passed and struck the glass and the venom dripped all down the window! I nearly fainted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Spanner, sounds like you could have developed a phobia about your granny instead! Lol! Fortunately I didn't. She was lovely and I adored her but her superstitions and ghost stories used to terrify me! I always had trouble getting to sleep at her house. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Reminds me of a story my ex told me. They had aged Welsh relatives, and whenever they went to stay, as a child he was scared stiff of a picture they had in the house which was supposed to have a witch hidden somewhere in the design of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Fiz - I've never understood the purpose of wasps! wasps are the gardners friend, as they feed their young many of the pesky insects that devour or despoil flowers and veg. Once the 'nesting' time is over though, workers are sent out to fend for just themselves before they pop their clogs in the autumn. This is when they get attracted to sweet things like lemonade and jam, and become a nuisance at picnics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 That is all very well, Dave, but they persecute me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I suppose at least wasps have a purpose. Flies on the other hand.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 That is all very well, Dave, but they persecute me as you're allergic to their sting, I wouldn't call that a phobia - I'd call that self protection! I know its easier said than done, but avoid flapping at them, and they tend to go away - sadly they respond to 'aggression' against them in kind! Flies just eat sh**!!! (though i suppose nature does need to remove that from the scene, or we'd all drown in it... urrrgh!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I have a friend who has a serious dislike of buttons. I am *so* glad to hear you say that - I thought it was just me! Definitely not a phobia, just an aversion to wearing them in any number - I blame my mum for forcing me to wear cardigans when I was young. You'll rarely see me in a blouse, but if you do it's a fair bet that I washed and ironed it with the buttons already done up so I didn't have to undo them - and my cardigans are now all wraparound or edge-to-edge or otherwise button-free! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Dave, I freeze, but they still know and pester me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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