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cartoon Illustration Friday

Cartoon: Dentist appointment

We all have our fears and worries. A dentist appointment ranks up there with the fear of public speaking and dangerous animals. I’m sorry but this cartoon from the past probably won’t help ease your dental anxiety.

Cartoon of a dentist and a patient. The dentist says, "Your teeth look great. But it looks like we need to extract your tongue."

However, there are some good resources out there for those suffering this fear.

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K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine Parenting Cartoons

Does Anyone Remember Separation Anxiety?

When my wife took a sabbatical from ministry in 2014, she spent a lot of time at home. Our kids were in their teens and twenties, so it was basically her and the dog when I was at work and the kids were doing their own thing. The dog started to get used to having her owner at home. Separation anxiety was nowhere in sight.

But when she went back to the church, the poor dog had a nervous breakdown. When we came home, we would find her hiding and shaking. When we went to bed, she would bark until we took her upstairs and into our bedrooms. Before, she was quite content to be in a downstairs bathroom.

We took her to the vet to be sure she didn’t have a physical problem. The vet confirmed she was just fine, but experiencing separation anxiety. He suggested we could give her anti-anxiety medicine. I thanked him and said we would wait and see. Eventually, the dog got used to being the queen of her castle once again.

We live in Ohio today and are entering the third week of staying in place. I really feel for the parents who have had to figure out how to keep their kids busy when school was canceled. Many of us are working from home too. Separation anxiety may be the last thing on parents’ and pet owners’ minds these days.

But there will come a day when things get back to normal again. We will get to venture out to work and school one day. Let’s look forward to the day when separation anxiety may be the biggest concern on our minds.

How have you made the best of being at home? Let us know in the comments.

Cartoon of a crying mom clinging to a boy. The caption says, "It's been hard for Chloe to serve since she began experiencing separation anxiety."
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
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webcomic

Why it is so hard to face our fears cartoon

cartoon of a girl and a monster. The monster is eating someone

Cartoon of a girl and a monster. The monster is eating someone. The girl says, “You see, Roger? This is why I don’t like facing my fears!”

Fears, whether real or imagined can stop us in our tracks. We adults forget that children’s fears are just as real and debilitating to them as any adult-sized fears. They can consume anyone (and either our friends). What do you do?

  • Acknowledge you have the fear. It does no good to pretend a fear isn’t there when it is affecting us. Denying the fear monster doesn’t make it go away.
  • Realize courage doesn’t come from the absence of fear. Many a person has broken through a fear because they chose to be courageous in the midst of their fear.
  • Talk about it with a trusted friend, teacher or pastor. You may be surprised to learn you are not the only one facing that same fear. And acknowledging a phobia or anxiety with someone else breaks the power of the fear monster