Storms~
she turned thunderstorms and bad weather into the best, heavenly, visual, symphonies... she would point out the hues in sky, and had us count in between thunder rolls to determine how far away the storm was.
I remember us piling up on her bed and watching the show through her window like it was movie made especially for us.

Darkness ~
then there was the fear of the dark thing. mom organized obstacle courses throughout the house with all the lights off, and then would time us as we raced. We became so determined to beat one another's time, we gave no thought to the fact that we were running through the basement in the pitch dark. (i still remember laughing as i would hear my brother and sister bang into the furnace or trip up the stairs)

Monsters~
and remember the childhood fear of the monster hiding under your bed or in your closet? that was solved by my mother being the monster. yup. complete with a stocking over her head, she would hide under our bed or in the closet and grab us when we least expected it. now i know some of you are thinking this is horrible, but to us, it was great fun. we had a crazy mom. (in a good way) And she made our fears seem just as crazy.

Spiders ~
love em.
and that's because mom had us feeling so sorry for them. she would say something like, "poor, poor, spider..imagine feeling like everyone hates you and not having any friends or kids who want you for a pet...and imagine everyone wanting to kill you because you look the way you do. all alone in his little web..."
dear god, i practically cried my eyes out every time i saw one.

Interesting how just a little turn in the story can transform such powerful fears into an entirely different experience....