Tuesday, April 21, 2009

ABC Wednesday---N Is For No Monsters Allowed

ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.


Well...I wish the scanner would've picked up the lettering...but you'll understand why it didn't once I explain...

About two weeks ago as I was putting Hope to bed she was acting...different. We talked about all manner of things and ended up talking about how old you had to be in order to be a "tween" of all things. She started SOBBING because she wasn't a tween. ::sigh:: How do you deal with that? I have no idea...and luckily for me, I don't have to...yet... As soon as I could get her to take a breath she confessed, "Mama...I'm afraid of monsters under my bed."

That one? Well...I had already laid the groundwork for THAT one. We've read books about "monsters under the bed" since she was an infant. I've talked about how Sesame Street is FULL of monsters...they're all cuddly, lovable little creatures...who would be afraid of them? I've also read enough articles on the subject to know that you have to do your own thing with your own kid and follow his/her lead. I do NOT agree with the experts who demand that you gently but firmly tell your child that there is no such thing as monsters. Really? Huh...news to me! Have you read the paper lately? This world is populated with monsters...the REALLY scary kind...so no, I'm not going to tell my child that.

I like the idea behind "Monster Spray". You know...fill a spray bottle with water and let the child spray under the bed to banish the monsters? I like the concept of giving them CONTROL over the fear...the spray...not so much. One of our cats sleeps under Hope's bed...I can only imagine the devastation after she'd shoot a few spritzes under there sending Wally into rabid orbit. Umm...no...no monster spray.

It turned out that Hope had a few ideas of her own. The first was to TALK to me about it. How cool is that? She repeated the Sesame Street speech almost verbatim that I had given her so many times before. Then she said, "Mama? Can we make a sign for my door?" I said, "Sure honey. What should it say?" She said, "No Monsters Allowed". We agreed that was a good idea and we would make it the next day. She wanted me to write the words on a piece of paper then she would copy them onto her own piece of paper...and maybe draw a picture of a monster. Filled to the brim with love and pride for my brave six year old I gave her a hug and a kiss and told her I'd see her in the morning. The tears started again. She wanted to know how the monsters were going to know to stay out of there TONIGHT. I told her the doors and windows were locked. Mama and Daddy were right there...there was no way that a monster was going to get in on our watch. I then held her hand while we both got down on all fours and checked under her bed. She still wasn't buying it. So...and this had to have come from God because...well...I was fresh out of ideas.

I said, "Do we have any Sesame Street monsters in the house?" She perked up and said, "Elmo!" Elmo used to belong to her and now belongs to Claire. Luckily for ALL concerned he was downstairs in the family room and not sequestered in her baby sister's room. I said, "How about if we put Elmo under your bed...that way..." Before I could finish my thought she was sitting up in bed shaking her head emphatically, "YES MAMA! If there is already a monster under my bed there won't be room for another one!" So Elmo was pressed into Active Duty...which allowed Hope to sleep...but also sent her sister into a screaming fit when she saw HER Elmo under Hope's bed. That was solved by a trip to Target. As you can see...Grover is now living happily under Hope's bed.

The sign? As you can see she did draw a monster. She also wanted the wording changed to "Only 1 Monster Allowed". She chose the lightest blue crayon she could find because, "Mama the words have to be light. How will the monsters be able to read them in the dark?"

My kids rock. And I think I know what the "real" monster is that's bothering her. Since Grover has taken up residence...she's been doing a lot of talking about "being away from Mama all day next year in first grade." Again...my kids rock.

Hugs y'all,


7 comments:

Carol said...

What a cute story...and a cute photo with the stuffed animal under the bed...

pictureeachday said...

So cute!! Grover was always my favorite :D

I can just imagine if you'd tried the Monster Spray and gotten the cat by accident.. Hope would be more convinced than ever that there were monsters under her bed! When my brother was really little, my sister and I tried to show him there was nothing scary about the vacuum cleaner by putting our little hand-held one close to my face and having me show no fear.

...And then it grabbed my long hair and I started screaming. (It was the rotating brush kind.) Somehow he was not convinced..

Tumblewords: said...

No monsters - a good idea for all of us! Nice post!

Jay said...

I like Grover!

Hope is a smart little girl, and articulate too! She won't always be reasonable, or always listen to you, but she has the grounding to be a thinker, which is always useful. Good thinking yourself, too!

Joy said...

I want a sign like that. Hope is well named.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story. Cute photos as well!

Dragonstar said...

Great post! Knowing your children can talk about their fears is so very important. Hope did well!

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