over the past year or so we’ve been occasionally suprised to discover that certain sounds completely, totally and unravel odin and instantaneously bring on a fit of crying. and while it might seem reasonable to be startled by, say, the sound of a food processor ( but – oddly – not that of a vacuum cleaner ), it’s a little harder to understand what’s so frightening about the sound of packing tape being torn removed from a roll ( although, curiously, greg at daddytypes has observed the same effect ) or even the “swoosh” sound that the bottom of a door makes when it moves against carpeting ( thankfully, odin appears to have habituated to this sound slowly over time ).

and then there’s the newest scary sound produced by his “Ready, Set, Go” cars that he recently received as a gift from a friend. the concept is simple, you pull the car backwards to wind up a spring and release it to let it race forward; but apparently you must not ever pull the car backwards and then lift it up and let the wheels spin and produce a sharp “bzzzzzzzzzzzz!” sound.

no sirreee, one must not ever do that. at least not within earshot of odin.

we thought he might have simply been surprised by the unexpected sound the first time it happened, but no, the effect is quite repeatable.

i wonder if any other parents have discovered their own sources of the scariest sounds.