Dan does Arachnophobia

Our Dan has a pathological and illogical fear of spiders. Sometimes it gets to the point of silliness. Many is the time she has screamed in a bloodcurdling way - I have gone running (as you do when you think your only child is about be skewered alive!) only to find a tiny spider on the windowsill, and my beloved daughter shaking and sweating and crying and squalling as if she'd been faced with a rabid tarantula. I have told her off for freaking me out many times, as I rescue the poor little spider and gently put it outside. She's away living in the rural far reaches of Gloucestershire for the summer, and the other evening she found a "Huge" spider in her room. She was home alone as Abby had gone to the cinema. So she rang her boyfriend Jan who was apparently at home playing playstation games with his mate Ian. (That's their story and they're sticking to it). Ian answered the 'phone and Dan asked him (between sobs) what to do about the spider.  Ian (not knowing any better) told her to get a piece of paper and let the spider 'run' onto the paper. At this moment Jan shouted out to tell Ian to say "Let the spider stroll nonchalantly onto the paper - for christ's sake don't tell her that the spider will RUN". 

Anyway - she finally managed to get rid of the spider - but I know how hard it was for her because she then text me to say how ill she felt!!! I have no clue where she gets this from - it's definitely 'nature' and not 'nurture' because no-one else in the family has arachnophobia.

Bless her :)