My Irrational Fear of Spiders

I can’t tell you when it started or how, I can just tell you that I don’t like spiders, like at all and I probably never will. I’m not sure if it’s their sneaking skills, always showing up when you least expect them or if it’s the idea that they will bite me when I’m not looking, I have never been a fan of spiders. When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to have a brother that was not scary of spiders, every time there was a spider in my general vicinity, I could call him over and he would kill it without even paying attention. I nicknamed him the spider killer. Originally, I had tried to teach my dog, a Labrador, to eat spiders but like me, she was never a big fan of spiders so that did not work. So there I was, in my apartment on my first night. I still remember that very first night in my apartment; it was so terrible. I organized myself to get ready for bed and as I got nice and comfortable in the covers, right before I turned the light off, I looked up and saw a black dot on my ceiling. Now this was not my first black dot (and yes I mean dot, it wasn’t a big spider or anything special), but this was probably one of my first spiders where I was the only person available to kill it.

 

Left with a decision, do I leave it alone and not sleep the night as I would be too scared of it coming down and landing on me or do I get up and grab a tissue and kill it. I opted for a third option: the shoe. I grabbed that shoe and I promise you that the spider had no idea what hit it! I used way too much force and that little black dot became a little black spot. 

 

So now you can imagine this, it’s almost midnight on a Sunday night and I’m on my bed with a shoe in my hand and a big spider splat on my new apartment ceiling. Wow, what a great way to start my new adventure! After my moment, I had to get off the bed and go grab some toilet paper to clean up the mess. 

 

As I laid back in bed, I realized that this whole situation would become my norm. Gone are the days where I could simply call on my brother to kill the spider, I had become an adult. Not because I had to do my own taxes or pay rent for the first time, no, I became an adult (at least in my own view), because I was able to kill a spider myself. 

 

Now most of you might be laughing at this whole situation but since that first night, I have killed many spiders (the benefit of being in a semi-basement apartment) and every time I am successful in my battle (some times they get away and than I’m stuck half-sleeping waiting for them to pop-up again), I count it as another step to becoming a full-fledged adult. At the end of the day, when you begin your journey and move out of the safety of your home, you too will have a moment of self-reflection when you realize that you are no longer a child. 

 

Hopefully your moment will not have a fear aspect to it but let me know down in the comments if you have had your adult moment or if you are still patiently waiting for it to happen! Like what you see? Let me know in the comments!