"Ghost. Ghost open door. Open the window. Ghost open it."
This has been the topic of Keith's conversation for the past two days.
Cute, right?
I thought so too.
That is until last night.
It was bed time. The typical stalling tricks were tried.
Cute, right?
I thought so too.
That is until last night.
It was bed time. The typical stalling tricks were tried.
"Mommy, drink. I need drink.
Oh, Bear.
Hug Daddy.
Cuddle. Cuddle on couch."
Finally I got him into bed. I was tired. Exhausted. Looking forward to cuddling with Jeffrey for a while and then going to bed. All the lights in the house were out. Just the soft orange glow of the Jack o' Lantern, a large loveseat, and Jeffrey's arms to cuddle into. The perfect ending to my day.
Oh, Bear.
Hug Daddy.
Cuddle. Cuddle on couch."
Finally I got him into bed. I was tired. Exhausted. Looking forward to cuddling with Jeffrey for a while and then going to bed. All the lights in the house were out. Just the soft orange glow of the Jack o' Lantern, a large loveseat, and Jeffrey's arms to cuddle into. The perfect ending to my day.
Petrified scream
Pounding on the door
Pounding on the door
Jeffrey and I looked at each other trying to figure out if it was another antic to get out of going to bed or if it was a real scream. We didn't know exactly what was going on in his little mind. Normally he is so good about bed time. We brush teeth, sing, say prayers, and then he climbs into bed with a kiss. Normally he stays there all night, and doesn't try to get out of going to sleep. What was going on?
Confused we let him cuddle with us on the couch until he calmed down.
Cuddling with Jeffrey and a squirming, crying toddler wasn't my idea of relaxing. Sigh. I tell you, a Mother's day never ends.
We tried to pick him up and take him to bed a few times, but every time we tried to even pick him up (he is a smart kid. He knew what we were going to do with him) the frantic crying would start again.
We sang until we were hoarse. We cuddled until our eyes were drooping. Finally we got him to bed. That isn't to say asleep, just to bed. I stayed with him rubbing his back and singing softly until he fell asleep. Then I crawled out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind me the crying started.
Three times.
Finally he stayed asleep and I was able to crawl my tired bones into my bed.
No sweet cuddling with Jeffrey for me.
Lots and lots of cuddling and singing and loving for Keith.
Just as important.
We decided that he is probably too young for Halloween this year. He must be afraid of ghosts.
The thing is, he kept asking for ghost songs. Ghost stories. Ghost ghost ghost.
So what is it that was scaring him so much?
After about 20 seconds of listening to the screaming, I decided it wasn't a normal "I am just throwing a tantrum and want to get out of bed" scream. I opened his door and was nearly knocked over by frantic blur.
"Daddy, Daddy!"Confused we let him cuddle with us on the couch until he calmed down.
Cuddling with Jeffrey and a squirming, crying toddler wasn't my idea of relaxing. Sigh. I tell you, a Mother's day never ends.
We tried to pick him up and take him to bed a few times, but every time we tried to even pick him up (he is a smart kid. He knew what we were going to do with him) the frantic crying would start again.
We sang until we were hoarse. We cuddled until our eyes were drooping. Finally we got him to bed. That isn't to say asleep, just to bed. I stayed with him rubbing his back and singing softly until he fell asleep. Then I crawled out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind me the crying started.
Three times.
Finally he stayed asleep and I was able to crawl my tired bones into my bed.
No sweet cuddling with Jeffrey for me.
Lots and lots of cuddling and singing and loving for Keith.
Just as important.
We decided that he is probably too young for Halloween this year. He must be afraid of ghosts.
The thing is, he kept asking for ghost songs. Ghost stories. Ghost ghost ghost.
So what is it that was scaring him so much?
16 comments:
I think sometimes little kids just do a darn good job of *pretending* to be scared, because October is so much more fun that way :)
p.s. my kids do the same thing. All.Day.Long
He could have had a bad dream.
My eldest is afraid of them. I just posted how scared she is of our new invisible friend. It's funny because my five year old isn't scared but she is. He'll grow out of it:)
Aww! That is really funny.
I guess he was scared, he is a toddler after all. Too bad you didn't get your relaxing time. But you said it right a mother's day never ends!!
Anyway, thanks for being such a nice blog reader, You are the best! :)
I know if Lucas is nervous/scared about something he talks about it all of the time. So just because he is talking about it doesn't mean he isn't scared.
Kids get creeped out by unusual things....he'll get over it. :)
my son is always brave until bedtime and then the 'grinch' or whatever other show he watched suddenly begins to scare him
Sammy calls all halloween stuff "rawwwr's" ... But I think I have decied she is afraid of the dark so now we have a night light... It kinda helps...
Sammy calls all halloween stuff "rawwwr's" ... But I think I have decied she is afraid of the dark so now we have a night light... It kinda helps...
sigh. and all of my fears of a "big boy bed" are flashing before my eyes with this post! which is exactly why i choose to control the situation and keep him in his crib as long as humanly possible;-) shooting for 3 as long as he doesn't turn into a monkey.
I'm by no means an expert...still figuring this stuff out myself. But one night my boyfriend and I saw that Beetlejuice was on and was rated PG. So we told his 9-year-old she'd like it. She assured us it wasn't too scary and sat and watched a good half hour of it before he decided it was too scary. Still, she seemed fine. But then she had to go to the bathroom and wanted me to go with her. I quickly saw she was freaked out.
I learned the hard way they don't SAY when they're scared. They think they can handle it. But later, it seems to hit them.
Alicey's been sleeping with her light on since January. JANUARY!! All because we took her to Disneyland. DISNEY for Pete's sake and there's been monster's in her room ever since. Kids are wierd. Hopefully it'll be a one night thing so you can get some rest!!
Sure hope you get in a good nap today
Yep, he's scared. They all are at times. You can help him get past it by adding a ritual like turning on a magic night light or whatever that keeps all the ghosts at bay. Or telling him that his big, strong daddy doesn't let ghosts in the house. It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you show your conviction about it and hang tough. Then just reassure him that he is fine, with great confidence, and walk away.
Otherwise, even after the fear is gone, he will have learned how to prolong bedtime indefinitely.
Isn't parenting fun?
heehee
=)
PS. I think I'd wait till next year to try reading ghost stories again...or maybe even the year after!
I agree that my kids never say they are scared during an event or watching a movie or whatever the case may be, but later it comes out that they really were.
I'm lucky that that girls share a room and when they are scared, like with a thunderstorm, they just sleep together.
I hope Keith isn't scared any more and gets some good sleep so that you and Jeffrey can too :)
This just sounds to familiar. Just last night I had trouble getting the kids to sleep one 3yr and one 5yr... we had just finished watching Spiderman and neither one of them would go to sleep and tried their usual excuses and both wanted to sleep in the bed with us. We finally got them to sleep but it wasn't easy. They'll try anything and I'm hoping it's just a phase... I need more sleep.. haha
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