In which I wonder if there is a monster is under my kid’s bedOctober 23rd, 2008 @ 7:01 am
Long gone are the days of me waking up at every sound Babboo makes during the night. Now days I sleep right through it. But not The King. He jumps right out of bed and races to Babboo’s cribside before I even realize my son is screaming for me.
One night last week The King and I woke up in the middle of the night to Babboo screaming out for both of us. And like has become the tradition, The King ran to see what was wrong. Next thing I knew Babboo was snuggled in between us in our Big Bed. He’s always so warm and willing to snuggle up to one of us when he’s in bed with us. Both The King and I enjoy the occasional night of Babboo being added to our bed. Unfortunately having Babboo in bed with us means that he is woken up at the butt-crack of dawn when I get up for work. It makes his day at school long and doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll sleep better the next night.
Needless to say, the following night, when getting Babboo ready for bed he and I talked about how he’s a Big Boy now and needs to sleep in his crib and not cry to come into the Big Bed with Mommy and Daddy. I explained that his crib is much nicer for him and it’s where he needs to be at night. He listened to me as I talked and put his jammies on.
And then he said, “But The Guy scares me.”
“What guy?”
“The guy in my crib! He scares me.”
The air suddenly got heavier and Babboo’s bedroom seemed a little darker.
“There isn’t a guy in your crib. You don’t need to be scared.”
Babboo slowly walked over to his crib and pointed to the space between his crib and the wall.
“The guy lives right here.”
Not only was the bedroom now darker but I’m pretty sure I felt a cold draft hit me from underneath the crib. And then the lights flickered and I might have wet myself.
It was clear, by the look of sheer honesty and terror in Babboo’s eyes, that he believed what he was telling me.
I admit it, I was scared. There was no way I was looking under the crib to prove to my toddler that there was NO GUY LIVING UNDER HIS BED! And no matter how many times I told him, out loud with my voice cracking, that no guy lived between his crib and the wall did I believe what I was saying. Sure, I know there isn’t a man that secretly lives in my kid’s bedroom. I’m smart enough to know that’s true. But dude, what about a monster or a ghost or something else even creepier?
I’m the adult here and even I’m not convinced.
I assured him, with the most adult voice I could muster, that he was safe and that Mommy and Daddy would never let anything bad happen to him. And I told him that if he was truly scared in the middle of the night that all he needed to do was call for us (well, mostly for Daddy since I don’t seem to wake up) and we’d The King would come and get him. He seemed to understand what I was saying and I’m pretty sure he trusted what I was saying.
But here’s the thing, I’m a little freaked out by this. Here I am the adult and I’m just a little too uncomfortable with the fact that I’m not automatically assured that there isn’t something in our house. I mean, again, I know there isn’t a guy living in our house. And yet, I’m not 100% comfortable with the whole situation. It isn’t keeping me up at night, but it making my skin crawl a little when I stop and think about. Especially if I’m in his bedroom.
I guess I just assumed that the second a child passed through my own private birth canal that I’d become an adult that is confident, secure, and knowledgeable. I’d no longer be worried about noises in the night and shadows that seemed to move. I thought that once I was the parent all of my childish fears would vanish.
But they didn’t vanish. Apparently. And now I don’t know what this means. I hate that I now question my parents own confidence. Were they not convinced that nothing was living under my bed when I was Babboo’s age? Was my mom afraid on the nights that my dad was out of town for work? Did she sleep with a heavy flashlight like I’ve been known to do when The King’s out of town? Did my dad hate it when he had to go into our dark basement?
I guess most of us adults are just faking it. If we say we’re not afraid loud enough and enough times we might start to believe it ourselves. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.
And in the mean time, I’m still not looking under Babboo’s bed.
I Rock · My Sweet Babboo
Mrs. CPA
said,
October 23, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Last week, when Tim was getting Hudson ready for bed, Hudson asked what a noise was, and Tim said he didn’t know. Hudson asked, “Is that someone at my window?” AAAAAAAHHHHHH! My kid thinks someone is tapping at his window. I’m glad that other kids his age are starting to get scared of imaginary things (or are they).
Britt
said,
October 23, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I’m glad that Babboo is still in a crib. People thinks I’m crazy for not moving Nicky to a bed yet, but the kid is a maniac. If he’s not constrained, he’ll roam the house all night.
That would make me nervous, too. Like you say, there’s not a guy there, but dude! What’s making Babboo think that there is?? Creepy!! My mom is a ghost hunter. Do you want me to send her over?
K
said,
October 23, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Maybe I’ve watched one too many episodes of Ghost Hunters but your kid has got me freaked out too. They say that children as more susceptible to such things.
Erika
said,
October 23, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I dread the monster-under-my-bed stuff. I just hate that there comes a time when our kids are scared of the dark/tv/other people/etc. I love the innocence. Plus, yes, it’s a little freaky when you think of those stories about the kid whose imaginary friend has his dead great-great-grandfather’s name and characteristics. ANYWAY. Maybe it’s different when you have sons, but I think it’s better if they DON’T know you sleep with a flashlight under your bed, for all the reasons you mentioned. I have a friend who is so skittish even when her husband is home and so crazy nazi about the alarm system it has scared her children too, and I’d like to protect my kids from that while still teaching them to be cautious.
Average Jane
said,
October 23, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’d be freaked out, too! The house where I grew up always had a creepy vibe at night and I hated going over there by myself after I moved out. The house I live in now *seems* non-creepy, but I might feel differently if a child said otherwise. Shudder.
May
said,
October 24, 2008 at 12:00 am
I am totally scared of the dark. I don’t know what this says about me either. But I’m admitting it now, to you, after you admitted your fear. When Mr. May would go to Hong Kong I would sleep with the hall light on (which only freaked me out MORE when I woke up at 3a.m. & wondered, “HOLY CRAP! Who turned on the light!!!”) But considering we often had homeless people walk through our backyard, I think I had a little more reason to fear. Oh the joys of ghetto city living… Also, I feel slightly guilty telling Lil’ May that there’s “nothing to be afraid of”. Especially when I totally get what she’s freaking out about… The dark is scary.
Jezer
said,
October 24, 2008 at 12:50 am
This must be the monster/guy/scary-thing age. Alex has awoken on two occasions just this week screaming about the monsters that “want to fight me.”
Apparently, it’s not all that uncommon. Two ladies in my same lunch period recommended “monster repellent.” I went right to the store after work and got some. We non-monster-seeing adults might call it “Glade” or maybe even “water in a squirt bottle.”
You explain to the kiddo that this stuff keeps all monsters/guys/scary-things away. They can’t stand the smell of it, and they go running back home straight away. Alex bought it. We’ve only just started using our “monster spray,” so I can’t attest to its long-acting power. Time will tell.
Also, I’m pretty sure my own home is a little bit haunted. It’s not such a bad thing. But then again, we all three still sleep together.
Christar
said,
October 24, 2008 at 3:47 am
Holy.Creepy. Seriously, just reading that gave me chills. I would have been absolutely terrified if Zach every told me something like that. Because I am super scared of ghosts and creepy things like that, and I automatically jump to those conclusions. Then again, I have been known to go looking for ghosts…. what’s wrong with me?
Hopefully there’s a logical explanation. Maybe kids see stuff that really isn’t there… I mean, how many times have we heard about kids seeing monsters under their bed? So maybe it’s just something like that. But I’m right there with you! Still creepy!
Audrey
said,
October 24, 2008 at 4:29 am
I hear you. When I’m home alone at night, most of the lights in the house stay on. the better to eliminate shadow lurkers. And I go around the house and push every door open all the way. The better to discover any sneaky intruder hiding behind partially-opened doors. After I’ve checked behind all the doors in the house — some nights more fearfully than others — I usually feel safe(r).
And you’re telling me that doesn’t all go away after you have a kid? Well, shoot.
Liberal Banana
said,
October 24, 2008 at 11:45 am
Wow, that is so creepy! What’s that movie with Haley Joel Osment where he says “I see dead people?” That’s totally what I’m picturing here. *shudder*
When I was younger, I’d always get scared leaving our basement (even our finished basements in the houses that had them). I was sure that something might grab me and pull me back down into the basement as I got to the last step. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened yet, but I chalk it up to never turning the light off until I’m firmly off the stairs and onto the main floor of the house.
Lisa
said,
October 24, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I don’t think we ever get over being scared of the dark. I know I haven’t. Even now I get all tense and freaked out going upstairs in the dark to turn the lights on and get Jonathan’s bath ready. Sometimes I wonder “If I’m so afraid, how am I going to teach my son not to be afraid?”
It’s a legitimate fear that you have and I’d feel the same way.
durga
said,
October 24, 2008 at 2:50 pm
i see dead people?
ah im scared. i wouldnt look under the crib either.
metalia
said,
October 24, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m always petrified I’m going to see someone lurking in the kids’ room on the video monitor at night. SERIOUSLY.
Kim
said,
October 24, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I was going to suggest monster spray like Jezer. Also, what about a nightlight? I’m 40 and I like a little light in my room at night. I get a little freaked out about noises and bumps and whatnot.
We’re moving in a couple of months so it’s a whole new set of creaks and pops and hiding places to contend with.
Dan
said,
October 28, 2008 at 5:27 am
Is there a nightlight in the room?
I’m wondering if it’s Babboo’s shadow or some other shadow on the wall. We had one that was afraid of the monster on the wall, but we figured out it was a long shadow. Didn’t help the kid too much to explain that just once, but over time he got over it (like we’d pick him up and have him touch the wall where the shadow was and show how our hands made more shadows and that they were okay… but then he’d look at us like “are you trying to pull one over on me?”).