I don’t remember how it came up, but for some reason the kids and I had a talk about phobias the other day.

“Everyone has something they’re afraid of.” I said. “It doesn’t really matter what it is. What matters is that the person is afraid of it.”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” my youngest son said.

I nodded. “Of course you’re not.”

“I have a phobia,” his older brother announced.

“Oh yeah?”

“Giant animatronic dinosaurs – no, wait. It’s giant carnivorous animatronic dinosaurs. Yeah. They creep me out.”

“That’s a pretty specific phobia.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I can live with it.”