Jaron and the Duckies

Last Tuesday, Corrina and I dropped Jaron and Lara off at our friends' house to watch them while we went to an appointment. They live (lived, currently moving to another house) next to creek so their son (age 8ish) raised some ducks from eggs. Jaron loves the ducks, from a distance, but if they approach him, he freaks out (as with any animal). We got their a little early and our friend hadn't got back yet but Jaron wanted to see the duckies. I let him see the duckies and tried to help him overcome his fear. When we came back afterwards, he wanted to feed the duckies srawberries and chase them all over the place. Hallelujah, it worked! Or so we thought. That night, @ 1 or 2 in the morning, he woke up screaming and crying and wouldn't calm down. I had to hold him til he fell asleep. We just couldn't figure it out. Then the next morning when I got home from work, he wanted to keep his door closed and we couldn't figure it out. Then at nap time, he started freaking out because the duckies were in his room. He even told me that one had bit his foot. Cute but sad. And we have been dealing with that since. Fortunately, I just have to hug him while he stands on his bed until he decides to lay down, and then there's no problem. We have decided to just let the duckies disappear on Jaron's terms. They are in his mind and very real so there's not going to be anything we can do to make him imagine them differently. But it is funny that during the day he still has to keep his door closed so the duckies can't get out. And he hasn't reported any more bites since that first night. So I guess we can let them stay :-)