Where does the fear come from???

So much for my renewed blogging ... I got a bit sidetracked with my mom's passing.  But life is starting to return to normal and I'm going to continue to work on blogging consistently.  

Halloween is this weekend.  And we've got plans.  Chris doesn't realize the extent of it yet.  We'll do the annual civic association Spook-To-Do at the club, where the kids eat hot dogs and chips, and have a costume contest.  Then, the neighborhood kids spread out from there to do their trick or treating.

I'm decorating our front yard for Halloween for the first time ever.  I have tombstones, spider webs, skeletons, etc.  The kids are excited.  We got some stuff the night we picked up their costumes and I got a bit more on my own.  I'm setting up a table in the front yard and a few friends will be over for some snacks and drinks while the kids trick or treat and we hand out candy.  But, I am now starting to get worried about how Chloe will handle the evening.

For the first time in her life, I've seen fear in her face.  Real fear.  She's never shown it before.  Now all of sudden, some things make her afraid.  Things that kind of should, I guess.  But what I find funny is how she knows to be afraid of these things.  What is it that makes them scary?  How does a toddler learn that black creepy things and spiders are scary?  No one told her she should be afraid.  She hasn't been attacked by a 6' spider. 

Tuesday night I took the boys to get their Halloween costumes.  Zachary went with Harry Potter.  I was happy with that.  But, Philip, is all about the scare/gore factor.  And the chainsaw.  His most important criteria was that his costume had to look like a chainsaw could go with it.  He wanted that pretend chainsaw more than anything else.  So, he picked a costume that looks kind of like this: http://www.spirithalloween.com/product/bleeding-skeleton-child-costume/ (not that exact one).

When we got home, I had the kids try on their costumes to make sure that everything fit ok.  When Chloe saw Philip in full dress, she ran and screamed.  She was truly afraid.  I felt so bad for her.  Philip took off the mask and she was ok, but as long as he was wearing it, she stayed on the other side of the room and kept telling him no. 

The funniest was tonight.  I was working on her costume.  It's a witch ... and to make Halloween fun for Chris ... he got to have a hand in it as she is going to be a Christine O'Donnell witch, complete with tea bags hanging from her witch hat, and "I am not a witch...Vote for me" on her hat.   The costume is supposed to look something like the costume here:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/14409838/reduced-to-sell-clearance-funky-witch?ref=sr_gallery_19  Except I'm going for more black with wine and ivory mixed in.  And without the flowers.  She'll wear a black onesie top, with the tutu over it, a witch hat, and black shoes.  Cute, right?

So tonight I'm working on the tutu and wanted to try it on to see how many more sections of tulle I needed to add.  This is what it looks like so far.  Just a clump of black, wine, and ivory netting.  That's it. 

But she hated it.  She pushed it away, said no, and made that same fear face that she did at Philip's scary mask.  She wanted nothing to do with it and ran away.

Getting her to wear it will be interesting.  I may find myself out at the store Sunday in search for a cheerful princess instead.  So much for Chris's political statement.

It makes me wonder where this fear comes from.  We didn't "teach" her to be afraid of black netting.  Or of a skeleton face.  Sure, the costume face it is scary - but I know WHY it is scary.  I know that it is a bone of a face with blood on it and can rationalize as to why this might possibly be scary.  But, she hasn't learned that yet.  She's never seen this before.  Where does this instinctive fear come from?  And why?