Lemmy vs the vacuum cleaner

29th of February.


The vacuum cleaner. I wonder what it must look like through his eyes. This big, super noisy machine. I guess It must be pretty intimidating. I'm not sure when it began but Lemmy was really scared of the vacuum cleaner. Big time! It was hard to believe at first, his face would change and he would start crying right away. I would hold him, comfort him, feeling his two little hands griping me with an unbelievable strength. We had to stay in a different room until daddy had finished the chore.  Lemmy would not let me go. I couldn't even distracted him, he kept looking out to the direction of where the noise of the vacuum came from.

As he grew, the fear of the vacuum cleaner remained, a bit less but it was still there. By then, he would run straight to me, and I would hold him while Marc did the job. But this time we stayed in the same room and tried to explain that there was nothing to fear, it is just for cleaning,etc...

A couple of months ago he developed  a love-hate relationship with the vacuum. He started pointing telling us to put it on. He knew that when it is off there is nothing to be scared of, he would touch the buttons,etc. But when it is on, he would run away. 

Once, right after Marc finished vacuuming, he left it still plugged in. Lemmy went and switched the button on, and oh man! I had never seen him run so fast, pushing things out of his way until he made it safe into mummy's arms. Gradually, he began to stay by daddy when he was using it, but only sometimes.

But today he faced his fear. 

He pointed at the vacuum cleaner. I got ready to hold him if he needed it while Marc started the cleaning. Lemmy walked slowly towards Marc observing diligently and asked to help. Limpiar limpiar ( clean clean) 

I was in another room by this point, when I heard a scream: mama, mama...I ran to our bedroom and what did I see? My little man vacuuming the corners with the long brush attachment. He looked up to me with a little grin in his face, and my hat on! What a spectacle! Marc says he started cleaning, saw the hat, put it on and continued the job. 

Another lesson that I learned from this little man! He trusts us, and faced what he was most scared of, from his own initiative and He conquered his fear! 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.