What do you do when you're scared?

[Imdanny]

Well, you have to try not to be too scared when it's not necessary. My SO is on a business trip. I thought I'd be scared. I really haven't been. Thankfully.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

There are some great suggestions on this thread.

My DH was gone for a long weekend this summer and I was literally paralyzed with fear each night. When he traveled when we lived in an apartment it wasn't scary- there was only a front door, and we lived on the second floor. In a house it's a totally different story- so many points of entry!

I keep my phone near by, lock ALL the doors, let my dog sleep in the bed with me, keep a bat on the bed... and that's about it. Oh! And pepper spray- though I've heard the wasp spray is better (shoots longer distance)

Good luck selling your home! It's gorgeous, but certainly exposed!

 

[dragonfly411]

OMG can I PLEASE Come live in that house??????????

I imagine you have a lot of wildlife. Perhaps a raccoon or opossum or skunk caused the noise? Or an owl?

I get scared at night. I get so scared I play out scenarios in my head. Last night I imagined what I'd do if I woke up to someone in my room. I have two unloaded shotguns by the bed, but I do plan on getting my concealed weapons license and getting a handgun to keep close. I would hope that if it happened soon, the unloaded guns would at least be scary enough.

Oh.... also. There is a raccoon that frequents our back yard and pastures at night. I really need to scout out the oak tree above my room as I'm sure he sleeps in it all day and we have no idea. Every night he drops onto MY ROOF over MY ROOM and goes walking down to the porch where there's things to jump down onto. Pest.
We also have coyotes in our pastures now, which is not so great, but sometimes I can hear them.

 

[Nashville]

Uhhhh this is probably really juvenile, but I turn on a Disney movie. My husband stays overnight at his job 4 nights a week, so yeah I get scared a lot (I get prescription sleep meds because I have always been an insomniac).

 

[soocool]

when I was first married and DH would travel I was scared quite a bit and would sleep with the tv on.

Then it occurred to me what would be the difference if DH was home or not. No one knew that I was home alone and DH travels quite a bit. I live in a safe area so that helps. One of my neighbors always calls me when her husband goes away (not very often) and she is always hearing noises outside. I just turn on my flood lights and believe me if anyone was lurking outside she would seee. Outdoor lights help alot. I think anyone looking to break in would try to do it when no one is home, usually during the day or if you go away on vacation. As long as your lights aren't on all day long you should be fine. Turn on your tv and go to sleep, like I used to do.

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I survived another night alone in the house. I put a pair of DH's manly work boots right outside the door to the screened in porch. I positioned them in a certain way (and even took a pic with my cell phone) so that one boot was tipped over onto the other one. This morning when I woke up, the tipped over boot was upright.

I texted DH about this and his response was: "raccoon." I texted back: "or woodsy axe murderer."

On top of this, we now have mice living in our vents AGAIN. They moved in last Fall and it was a never ending cycle of baiting and emptying traps since we can't locate where they're sneaking in. I can hear them in the vents. Hibbity Jibbities on many levels at our house in the woods.

 

[pinkstars]

Oh man, can I relate! Your house is lovely, but I'm not sure I could ever live in one like that, I would get freaked out way too much.

Well since other people answered...When I get scared (and it's always when I'm trying to fall asleep) I look(very briefly) around the room to make sure nothing is out of place. Then I close my eyes and think of my friend who died and envision that since she's an angel she sets this intense white light/orb that starts in the center of my bed and grows in size to encapsulate me so that nothing bad can get to me. Also the orb has the ability to block bad things kind of like how super heroes use their shield or whatever to keep bad guys away...same thing.
Also, I saw Paranormal Activity and had trouble sleeping for at least 2 weeks after, then it finally started going away after that. It really messed with me though!!
Ugh, I hope your nights get better!

 

[waterlilly]

My hub travels a lot too...I have a can of mace next to my bed and my dogs to keep watch! The dogs act very different at night when it's just me. The biggest dog will sleep next to me above covers and be very vigilant, when my husband is home this same dog is under the covers snoozing away. We have an alarm too - but the other night I had it set and at midnight it went off !

Turns out it was just a power surge that affected the phone line and set it off. NOT a fun thing to wake up to at all - I was praying as I was running to the alarm panel "PLEASE let it be the phone, PLEASE let it be the phone!" I would have had a heart attack right then and there if it had told me the basement had been triggered! I actually prefer not to use it at all vs. being awaken by it going off, I think that took years off of my life

I live in the woods too - I have no neighbors in view and our house if far away from the road...

How on earth did you get the courage to go check it out?! If I thought someone was in my basement, I'd hightail it out to my car!

I'd like to get some sensors set up that will detect if a car enters the driveway too...

To add - something that is a BIG relief to me is having motion detector lights all around the house. If anything comes near the lights go on, I really like having that!

 

[sctsbride09]

When my DH is out of town over night, I lock all the doors (of course) including my bedroom door, let our dogs sleep on the bed ( a doberman and a chi mix) and keep a handgun loaded on my nightstand. Im pretty sure seeing a 85 pound doberman coming at you would be enought to deter a criminal but you never know..Also, I would rather use my gun on someone breaking in my home, than possibly have one of our dogs get killed defending me, because some piece of s#$@ is invading MY property. My dog is more of a visual threat, its her crazy owner a criminal should be worried about. I would recommend taking a handgun safety class, and getting a handgun to defend yourself, personally. If your not comfortable with guns, maybe a breed of dog that can be a bit intimidating? Or if your not in the market for either, maybe stay at a girlfriends house or a family members?

I think alot of us that have SOs that travel often for work deal with fear/nervousness when we are home alone, I guess try different things until you find what helps you. There have been some great ideas on here. Good luck!

PS. I should probably add that DH and I do NOT live in a good area, this is why Im so adamant about having a handgun/proper training. The rape stats alone for our area are enough for me to have a gun, not to mention the fact that in my state you can see where sex offenders are living online, and let me tell you, it is astonishing the amount in my area.