Teresa, for the most part, loves kindergarten. She loves music and gym and recess. She loves Treasure Box rewards and math and reading. What doesn’t she love? Spanish. Not the language per se. The class at school. “The teacher speaks Spanish,” Teresa explained. Well, yes, I agreed. And not really the class, so much as one of the Spanish teacher’s props. It’s a stuffed purple octopus named Lulu. It also speaks Spanish, Teresa reported. Well, if it’s part of Spanish class, it would, I said. “Daddy makes your stuffed animals talk at home, and sometimes they speak Spanish. That doesn’t bother you,” I pointed out. “That’s different,” she said. Teresa isn’t the first child to be afraid of something that, to an adult, makes no sense. I think every child has things they are afraid of; both of my other children did. If anything, Teresa is more daring than they were, if only because living with teenagers has exposed her to more. But she’s just started full-time school and there’s a lot to get used to. If a stuffed purple octopus is the focus of that emotion, so be it. As a parent, I feel like I have to walk a fine line. Irrational as it may be, her fear is real, and I have to respect that. At the same time, I can’t for one moment make her believe that I think a stuffed purple octopus — or a moth, or a shadow on the wall — is something deserving of her fear. It also makes me think about the ways we communicate our fears to her. How do you explain to a 5-year-old that she can’t play in the backyard by herself, because she could get hurt, or someone could hurt her, without encouraging fear? How do explain to an older child that it’s not them you don’t trust when you say they can’t walk the mile or so to school by themselves, or ride their bikes in a neighborhood where they have to cross busy streets? How do you let go enough to allow a teenager to get around by himself or herself, knowing that they could get hurt through no fault of their own, but they need to be independent? “Be not afraid,” Jesus said. “Be not afraid” or “have no fear” or words to similar effect might be the most repeated phrase in the Bible. That doesn’t mean we should act recklessly, but we should also not be paralyzed. So, I tell Teresa, I know you’re afraid of the octopus. But it won’t hurt you. It’ll be OK, I promise. Isn’t that what Jesus told the apostles when he walked on water, when he was transfigured, when he appeared to them after the resurrection? “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”