Just a Thunder Storm.....

I remember being so afraid of thunderstorms as a child - I love them as an adult.

My husband posted some pictures from NASA yesterday on Facebook showing lightening through the volcanic ash from the current Icelandic volcano eruption. They were gorgeous.

As a scientist, I'd recommend taking a basic, but scientific approach to it. He may not understand it, but at least keeping it factual and scientific will help remove some of the fear and mysticism.
DK makes great books (you can get them at Borders/Barnes & Noble) that teach about natural phenomena, you can probably find sites on the internet with lots of great pictures and simple explanations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/02.html
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/nat...

In the end, I think the best thing is to ask him what part of the lightening/thunderstorm he's most scared of and work through his response. If possible, take him out on a covered porch during a storm, keep some windows open inside to watch a storm pass (unless it's a really serious one) and let him see what happens in a storm as it passes and what's effected by it.

Good luck!

I had a friend..her son was terrified of tornadoes. I would start by finding out why he is so scared of them. Is he afraid he will get struck my lighting or is he more afraid of the noise from the thunder. I agree about the last post. Help him understand what lighting really is. You can even do an experiment with static electricity. My sisters and I use to rub our heads and arms with a balloon, turn off the lights and touch fingers or touch an object. You could see the static. We thought we were pretty cool that we could make lighting.

My daughter was the same last year. We live in an area mostly of plains and we get great thunderstorms for about a month straight! So lots of practice. I think what scares her the most is when it wakes her from being so loud. We had to really work through it. here are some things that we did..
Let her stay up and watch the "fire works, light show". while we held her and talked about how cool it was.
We looked up on line all the great pictures about lightening and scientifically how the lightening makes the sound of thunder. That was fun for her.
Then I just started using the same phrase, "It is not scary for your ears it is just noisy.
Finally at the end of the season, she would sleep through it or at least stay in her bed:)
She is four now and last night we had a little thunder, and she said, "I will be scared of it when I am sleeping." I reminded her that she is safe in the house and in her bed and that it is just noisy. I am sure we will have to do a mini course again, but I think she will be faster at calming her fears. Like the other moms said, try to figure out what about it he doesn't like the most, and talk through it.
good luck
E.

I'm not sure how old your son is, but can you look up what lightning is together and give him a scientific understanding, show him some beautiful pictures of it, and talk about how cool it is? My son is only two, but when something happens that seems to startle him, like thunder, I get really excited about it. He sees my reaction and realizes that it is okay.

We had the same problem last summer.... we told our daughter that the angels were playing basketball (she didn't know what bowling was), and when it light up, the angels scored and were getting excited, like a party. Than we planted her a vegetable garden and one night at my wits end, I told her the storm is going to make everything grow... well the Big Man up there must have been looking down on me, and sprouted new leaves the next morning. That was the best thing that worked for us... She is now not scared!! She was just 2 1/2, and I didn't want to get technical with her. Maybe one of those would work for you... GOod Luck!!

I LOVE thunder and lightning and have always opened all the doors and windows and curtains and have a blast watching the excitement! I think my excitement rubbed off on my kids because none of our 7 have ever been afraid...I think it's all about your attitude. Reassurance is always good. Maybe next time you can put a happier "spin" on it and teach him the counting game between the thunder and the lightning, then you can tell if the storm is coming towards you or going away from you guys.

I would absolutely validate his feelings...and tell him its OK if he is frightened...but that you are not and he will be safe!

Maybe look on the discovery channel and find a weather show to watch with him so he can learn the science behind it all? You can also explain the process of lightning starting fires in the forest and the re-growth it causes, and how that's good for out planet and so on and so on...

P.S. I have always told my kids I think of them like Mother Nature's / God's Fireworks!