Overcoming your fears

Naftali used to be petrified by my nieghbor's rabbits.  And I mean PETRIFIED.  They are a very lively pair, and they often jump out of the neighbor's yard and wander around, often finding their way into our front yard...and sometimes even walking into our house (the front door is usually wide open during the afternoon!)  As soon as Naftali would spot them, he would start screaming and crying "Babbit, Babbit" and come running to me for protection.  His fear got so bad that he'd start waking up during the night, apparently having nightmares about them...he'd wake up screaming "Babbit, Babbit" and could not be calmed down until either Bentzi or I let him come cuddle up in our room.

I decided that enough is enough- if he is so scared of them that he's having nightmares, I've got to help him overcome this fear.  So I started a "project" of sorts, to help him confront his fear.  I went with him to the neighbor's yard, and started petting the rabbits, holding them, etc.  The first day he was very scared, but was intrigued that Mommy wasn't scared of those awful hairy monsters.  The next day, he stood next to me (and them) and watched, until one of them got a little frisky and he got scared.  The next day, he actually touched them...well by now, not only is he not scared of them, but he begs me to help him climb into the neighbor's yard so that he can pet the rabbits!