The Ants Will Eat Me: a tale of careful speech

Never underestimate the trust a child develops for a parent or grandparent – and how literally they may take the parent or grandparents’ words. There was a young girl who was petrified of ants. The parents pried – a fear of ants is not so common – and they found an interesting origin to this rare fear. One afternoon this child had been cooking with grandma, when ants emerged from a crevice in the countertop. The grandma innocently remarked ‘quick, the ants will eat everything.’ Though the grandma meant that the ants will eat the food, to a young child there is no reason why ‘everything’ should not include her too! This was the origin of her fear of ants – for grandma said that ants eat people! How careful we must be with our speech…