My daughter is terrified of Koosh balls. Like she has this irrational fear that it will grow legs and a face and swallow her whole.
We have one that we bring out occasionally to show her that there’s nothing to be scared of. “See, sweetie?” we say as we toss it back and forth. “It won’t hurt you.”
The other day, we handed the ball to her little brother. He’s chewing on it, giggling at her.
My husband asks her to hand him the ball. “Go get it from your brother and bring it to me, please.”
She walks toward him but stops two feet away. “Thomas!” she says, clapping her hands to get his attention. “Gimme the ball!”
“Just take it, sweetie,” I say.
She looks at me, looks at her darling baby brother about to get eaten by the Koosh ball. “Thoooooooomas,” she says. “Give it here.”
When he doesn’t respond, she folds her arms and taps her foot. “Gimme the ball…..I’m counting!….1…..2….3….” Like she’s the mama or something.
When he keeps ignoring her, she turns to me. “I tried. Mommy, get the ball from Thomas and give it to Daddy.”
Hey, she tried, right? At least the Koosh ball didn’t eat her. 
I can totally understand why she is afraid of that ball. My son has one but he loves it. I think it is adorable that she mimics mommy. That would have been great on video.
I’m not ashamed to admit this: a few years ago when my four-yr-old was a rugrat, I used a toy that she was afraid of to keep her out of a certain spot she loved to make trouble in. (ie. a tsunami type mess). I simply had the toy stand guard in front of that area. Sounds cruel, but it works. Maybe you can make this little ball work for your advantage. lol.
@ Renee – I know! It’s moments like when I’m trying to convince myself to drop $150 on one of those Flip cameras. We have one at my job and it’s sooo easy to record video, upload it and poof! You’re done! I need one in the worst way….
@ Kayeanise – Hmmm. Cruel, yes, but don’t think I won’t steal it. LOL.