Children & A Fear of Storms

   Are your kids scared of thunderstorms?  Mine are and I’m a meteorologist with KSHB.  You would think having a guy around the house that knows a thing or two about bad storms and how they work would be calm a kid.  But I’m finding out that is not the way it works.

Storms are big, bad, loud and menacing.  And no doubt a lot of our kids have seen the destruction an E-F 5 tornado can do. In the last couple of years, they have heard, seen or read about deadly tornadoes have hit Joplin, Henryville Indiana, Tuscaloosa Alabama. 

I’m trying to get my kids to accept that thunderstorms are just going to happen, can’t be stopped and need to be respected and appreciated. 

I probably went to the extreme a couple of weeks ago with my oldest in this quest.  I let him chase a storm with me.  Now whoa, before you throw up your hands in disgust for me, remember I chase storms for a living so I would never take my son into a situation that was deadly or dangerous.  But, he did see his first wall cloud and when he broke into tears I took him home.   He immediately went to the basement.  That’s where he should be when a tornado warning is issued, so he learned a life skill that day.  He did better a couple hours later when we stood in the garage and collected hailstones as they fell to the ground.    I think its important to watch the lightning with your son or daughter.  When its safe, gather up a few hailstones, feel them, watch them melt.  Get a rain gauge, measure rain.  Be aware of the weather around you.

Look, everyday, even at this moment while you are reading this, there are 40-thousand thunderstorms going on.  Want a good way to explain thunder to your kids.  Take a paper bag, blow air into it.  Explain, that a lightning bolt, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun, causes the air to expand.  Now, slam your hand into the bag causing it to loudly pop.  Tell them that’s thunder, created when the air comes back together.  Its not the end of the world, just something natural that happens every day. 

I don’t know how long it will take for my son to less anxious about bad weather but I’ll be patient and reassuring when a storm pops up and next time I bet he doesn’t ask to go along for the chase.