snowdeal.org > ex machina: the eric update - day 455: the unassuming source of the scariest sound.

ex machina

the eric update - day 455: the unassuming source of the scariest sound.

over the past year or so we've been occasionally suprised to discover that certain sounds completely, totally and unravel odin and instantaneously bring on a fit of crying. and while it might seem reasonable to be startled by, say, the sound of a food processor ( but - oddly - not that of a vacuum cleaner ), it's a little harder to understand what's so frightening about the sound of packing tape being torn removed from a roll ( although, curiously, greg at daddytypes has observed the same effect ) or even the "swoosh" sound that the bottom of a door makes when it moves against carpeting ( thankfully, odin appears to have habituated to this sound slowly over time ).

and then there's the newest scary sound produced by his "Ready, Set, Go" cars that he recently received as a gift from a friend. the concept is simple, you pull the car backwards to wind up a spring and release it to let it race forward; but apparently you must not ever pull the car backwards and then lift it up and let the wheels spin and produce a sharp "bzzzzzzzzzzzz!" sound.

no sirreee, one must not ever do that. at least not within earshot of odin.

we thought he might have simply been surprised by the unexpected sound the first time it happened, but no, the effect is quite repeatable.

i wonder if any other parents have discovered their own sources of the scariest sounds.

bookmark: del.icio.us ::digg it ::furl ::reddit ::yahoo ::

10/02/2005 08:46:00 PM 3 comments

3 Comments:

We have a potty book that has a button you push and makes a flushing sound with a little girl laughing. This sound terrifies Magdalena and sends her running across the room for cover. Also if she is playing with the remote control and flips the cable box off or something of that sort and brings on a screen of static, she panics, running across the room with the remote yelling "Mommy!Mommy!Mommy!"

By Suzanne, at 8:50 AM

When Jenna was tiny; if anyone made the "Awwww" or "oohhh" sound it would scare her and send her into a panic (not a good thing when you take her to the circus) but around her 1st birthday that wasn't a big deal; now the sound of rain on the roof freaks out our three year old.

By Anonymous, at 8:27 PM

When my son was a baby he used to be very disturbed by paper or wrapping that made a noise (hmmm .. can't think of the word to describe it - think of a potato chip bag). I assumed it was a sound he associated with a treatment in hospital ... like the opening of sterile packaging. Maybe it's the same type of thing with the packing tape sound?
Ann

By Anonymous, at 6:08 PM

Post a Comment

[ rhetoric ]

“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

[ about ]

this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.

[ search ]

[ outbound ]