Tornados

Jacob came home from school very concerned about tornados. He stated a tornado went by his classroom yesterday and into the boys bathroom. He stated it was really windy and then the teachers blew a whistle and they all had to go to the girls bathroom to get away from the tornado. I asked him if it was just a practice for if there was ever a real tornado. He insisted that there really was a tornado and it wasn't just pretend.

Jacob has been asking questions ever since then about tornados. He wants to know where they live? When do they come out? Do they only come when it rains? Can they break houses? How about schools? His questions are endless.

I knew that this would be an issue for him and even considered keeping him at home when they had the state wide tornado drills. He is afraid of fire alarms due to the fire drills at school. He has to look around whenever we enter a building to see if there are any alarms. If he sees them, he will ask if they are going to go off. I always assure him they won't go off while we are eating or at church or whatever the activity is. I knew that tornado drills would cause the same kind of concern for him.

I wish there was a way to calm his fears. He knows we have a weather radio to warn us of tornados and smoke detectors to warn us of fires. He is still concerned though. I am hoping that this is a phase that will pass quickly and just be a memory for him soon. He doesn't get scared so much as just concerned. He still goes into buildings with fire alarms and sleeps at night. He just needs reassurance that he is safe. I guess fire alarms and tornados are his monsters under the bed.