Where’s Mommy?
Nov 24, 2022
Anyone who has had small kids knows that when you pull a shirt over their head, they wonder where the parent went. You reassure them, it’s momentary, but they cry anyhow. When mommy or daddy go out of the room, will they ever come back? Frightening.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, “Separation anxiety is a normal stage of development for infants and toddlers. Young children often experience a period of separation anxiety, but most children outgrow separation anxiety by about 3 years of age.”
there’s boat shows across Canada, and they will happen, I promise
That’s reassuring, but in some special little people, i.e. boaters, the idea that spring may never come again is very difficult to dispel. As the days get shorter and the nights longer, we wonder. Despite what our adult logic tells us, we ask whether the spring will eventually arrive. Will the cover come off the boat? Will there be a launch? Will summer transport us to lakes and coasts ever again? Will our work life balance be restored?
If you are experiencing these anxieties, know that you are not alone. While BoatSAD is not yet a recognized disorder, I say it is real. But there is hope.
We amateur therapists rely on boat shows to vanquish those irrational fears. That’s made it a scary couple of years, but for 2023 the shows are back. We hoped it would be so, and just like daddy, the show organizers were re-assuring, but in our hearts we felt fear.
Good news for anxiety. The cloud is lifting and as November evolves into December, our frightened psyches are shifting to genuinely anticipate that late January and early February will bring us the boat shows we desperately need to maintain our composure. The panic may not be rational, but you cannot tell me it’s not real.
John Morris
Online Editor
Canadian Yachting Magazine
CYonboard@kerrwil.com
