Eremikophobia...

is the fear of sand. I grew up in Southern California and Hawaii, so I've always been around sand, and I've always liked it. Not Henry! He has feared and hated sand since he was an infant. When he was 9 months old, I took him to Hawaii, and even then he was freaked out by sand. I thought he would have fun playing in the sand and wiggling his toes in the sandy ocean floor. Nope. He spent his time in Hawaii on a towel or a beach chair. We've gone to really cool parks with amazing sand boxes, and Henry would NOT go in. You might remember our beach getaway last summer when Henry cried the ENTIRE time we were on the sand. Every single time Henry has been on sand, he has screamed and cried and shaken and had a huge melt-down. So, I'm not sure why we decided to go to the beach at Sauvie Island on Saturday. But, we did. It had been over a year since our beach trip, so we were just hoping that he was over the sand thing. Jeff and I packed up the dogs and Henry and sand toys and towels and snacks and we went. As soon as we could SEE the sand, Henry demanded to be picked up. As I started walking on the sand (carrying him), he clung to me. He kept saying, "Go home! Go back to car!" We didn't drive 45 minutes to turn around and go back, so Henry was going to sit on the beach whether he wanted to or not. I spread out the towel, and put him down, and he was not happy. He sat on my lap and clung to me for a good while. We tried putting him on the sand a couple of times, but he couldn't stand it. He screamed and cried and shook, and snot ran down his face. I wasn't going to force him to do something which so obviously terrified him. I was o.k. with him sitting on the towel the whole time, but we weren't leaving. When Jeff took off for a walk on the beach with the pugs, Henry said, "Go touch the water." So, I carried him to the water and put him down on the wet sand. He seemed nervous and uncomfortable at first, but soon he was splashing his hands in the water. Then he sat down on the sand. Then he ran his fingers through the sand. Then he started picking up handfuls of sand and throwing them into the water. Soon he was laughing and having fun. I think Jeff was surprised to walk up and find us playing in the sand at the water's edge. Eventually Henry and I took a barefoot walk down the beach, and when it was time to leave, he didn't want to go. I'm so proud of him for facing his fears, and learning to love sand. No more eremikophobia!