Rain, Rain, Go Away

We awoke this morning to cloudy skies, and the questioning immediately began. "Is it still dark?" "Is it cloudy?" "Is it going to rain?" Bubba has a terrible fear of the rain, and I don't mean severe weather. I mean rain... tiny water droplets that fall from the sky. He doesn't have to hear the low rumblings of thunder or see lightning streak across the sky. He is afraid of rain! Now... the anxiety worsens with thunder and lightning, but it begins with the water falling.
Our day was a little rocky, but it wasn't so bad. And, other than the constant questioning about the cloudy skies, I had put the possibility of rain out of my mind. It wasn't until we were eating dinner with Mama Bird and Mela-mela that I began to notice a change in the skies. Bubba, on the other hand, had been watching the skies from the windows and immediately sensed the change. "It's going to rain!" he said.
"Oh, it's fine! Now turn around and eat." I said.
"It's going to rain!" he insisted.
"It might rain but we will be ok!" I reassured. I tried to entice Bubba to eat his dinner, but I knew it was useless. Once he saw that rain was on the horizon, all else was out the window. On the way out to the car, I noticed how dark it had gotten and how gloomy the clouds looked but I was still reassuring Bubba that we would be fine. We hopped into the car and headed home. I was just hoping we would make it home in time for me to take the dogs out before it started raining. Bubba, on the other hand, was hoping for no rain ever!
That is when I heard it, and he did too. The tornado sirens began going off as we headed for home. Oh crap!! "What IS that, Mommy?" he asked.
"Just a siren baby!" I said.
"What IS that siren for, Mommy?" he continued.
"It's just a bad weather siren... no big deal." I insisted.
"NO, Mommy...it's a tornado siren. A tornado is here!!" he urged.
"First of all... how do you know that is a tornado siren? Second... how do you know the word tornado?"
"A tornado is bad, bad weather, Mommy" he said.
"It's ok, Bubba! We will be ok. Mommy will keep you safe. That's what I'm here for" I reassured.
When we entered the garage, I explained that we were having bad weather, so the dogs needed to stay in their crates, and we needed to sit in the bathroom for a little while. I rushed them out of the car and into the hall bathroom. Then I ran out of the bathroom for pillows and the portable DVD player. When I returned, only seconds later, Bubba had used the potty all over himself.
"What happened baby? You are standing right next to the potty!" I asked.
"You left" he whispered.
"Ok... no big deal. Let's get you cleaned up!"
After cleaning him up, I quickly threw the pee clothes into the laundry room and checked the news for a weather update. It was headed right over us, so I ran back to the bathroom and pulled up the radar on my iPhone (thank heaven and Evander for this phone). We managed to ride out the severe weather with my children camped out in the bathtub watching a movie, dogs in their crates (amazingly quiet) and me sitting on the tile floor watching a 2 inch version of radar.
During all of this my mother and Evander called to check on us (thank you for calling). I also called Mama Bird to make sure she made it home ok. I knew Mela-mela would have made it because she lives very close and I followed her almost all the way (until turning into our neighborhood). Bubba's fears continue to amaze me. In so many instances, he is fearless. He hasn't a care in the world and throws caution into the wind. However, when it comes to rain and social situations, he becomes a different child and experiences anxiety and fear so intense it alarms me. I suppose it is just like everything else with him. It is all or nothing! There is no middle ground, no moderate response.
*It just hit me, too, where he learned about the tornado siren and a tornado... ppcd. I'm sure they had a severe weather drill at some point when he was at school.*