We have similar experiences with fears that seem so irrational to us. My DS7 has intense fears of make-up and salad. I know this sounds funny but his fears are very real. Makes me sad because he won't cuddle with me, only his dad, because of his make-up fear. It is interesting to watch them work through the fears. This summer he participated in theater camp and I knew when the production time was near the makeup issue would surface. The theater told him the make-up they applied was at first "crayon" and then "paint". He somehow justified to himself that it wasn't makeup. When his dad picked him up from dress rehearsal and said something we thought would be encouraging like. "wow, you overcame your makeup fear", that just set him off. Although he wore the makeup all day, thinking it was paint or crayon made it okay. Now that we called it makeup, he panicked and basically crawled out out of his seat the entire way home until he could wash it off.
I keep my fingers crossed that he will outgrow these fears but suspect he will replace them with others. I am not sure if this is related to being gifted or just normal childhood stuff. Either way, it definitely can be trying for us all.
