The Vacuum has been Conquered

Amelia is my little dare devil. Ariana is...not. Amelia will climb anything, eat anything, and has no fear (almost). Ariana well, she loves animals. She thinks spiders are, "so cute." Ants on the otherhand can be a little scary when found in marching rows by the thousands, or in her bed, but for the most part she is not afraid of insects, animals, or the vacuum cleaner; everything else is a little frightening. Amelia is only afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Not dealthly afraid but she'd rather be in the other room if the machine is turned on....until the other day.

Amelia stood in the doorway of the bathroom as I cleaned and at last it was time to vacuum the floor. I got the vacuum out and gave it the usual "warning turn-on" (when I push down the button for a second so that she knows it is going to be loud soon...this is usually when she leaves the room). She stood her ground. I said, "Ok, I'm going to turn it on now." She gave me the look: I can handle it mom. Whatever....I turned it on and started to do my thing. When she started screaming frantically I turned around. Amelia was shaking, shivering from head to toe and slapping the vacuum with an open hand. I noticed she never slapped it in the same place and she was hunting for colored spots or places with writing. She was trying to turn it off, but was being very unsuccessful. It was stinking hillarious, but kind of sad too. When I finished my job I turned it off and picked her up. Her body temp had risen like four degrees, tears soaked her face and shirt. She was still shaking and crying, but she calmed down quickly.

Yesterday, Amelia happily helped me vacuum the kitchen. She smiled and danced trying to keep one hand on the machine while I was pushing it back and forth. I guess she is over it. The scary monster machine has been beaten.