We had a sizeable earthquake recently that startled us, but startled Jacob more. As it passed and the house fell silent, Stephanie and I looked at each other in mild shock. Two or three long moments of quiet passed before we heard Jacob shriek and cry from his room. We hadn’t even thought about the kids. We ran in and grabbed Jacob out of bed since he was obviously shaken by the quake.

We talked to him and told him what had happened. We told him how brave he was while Toby and Sarah just slept, etcetera. As his fear passed, he started to process the experience by telling and retelling his own version of the events over the next day. Let me emphasize that this was a small earthquake. But here is how the progression went.  

First: "I felt my bed shaking." 

Later: "I had to hang on to my bed to keeping from falling off." 

Still later: "I thought my dolphin picture was going to fall off the wall, but I thought Toby could catch it."

Still later: "I thought my dinosaur stuffed animal was making all that shaking." 

Still later: "I think everyone thought that my dinosaur stuffed animal made the houses shake." 

Still later: "Everything went flying through the house." 

Still later: "Mommy thought it was a whale."