Skip to main content

Cookie monster saves the day

One night, not long ago, my son (age almost 4) was having trouble going to bed.


My husband and I took turns trying to settle him into his bed. That night, our son got not one but TWO books, TWO performances from stuffed animals (complete with voices and laughter), TWO tucking-ins, and eventually TWO parents doing their best to coax him to stay in his room AND SLEEP.

"You have to sleep in your own bedroom," my husband said firmly.

"I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want to sleep in my room alone. I'm scared! NOOOOOOOO!" This last one was said as he burst into tears, made a mad dash to our bedroom, clamoured up on our bed, and staged a lay-in. "I want to sleep in your bed!" he insisted.

He doesn't usually give us this level of difficulty, so we were a bit out of our element.

My husband and I looked at each other in frustration. Were we going to have to resort to time-out? I decided to ask our son why he didn't want to see in his own room/bed. He repeated that he was scared. I hugged him close and asked him gently, "What are you scared about?"

"I'm scared of the Monster."
"What monster?"
"THE MONSTER." This sounds serious, I thought. So I took the path of reason, hoping to resolve this quickly. "Welll, monsters aren't allowed in our house, so you don't have to worry. They can't get in. You are safe."
"But I'm scared." [Ugh, that didn't work.]
"Have you see it?"
"I haven't seen it, but it's still scary."

He described a fearsome creature in great detail (including eye color), that almost scared me.

My husband got a tender look on his face and our eyes met in mutual understanding (as they so often do when we are sharing parenting moments). And then my husband went to our closet and came out with with a different shirt on.

It was a Cookie Monster shirt that someone had given him as a gag gift one Christmas and he now wore it occasionally as a night-shirt. Googly eyes and a goofy smile with a background of blue covered his whole torso.

Then, my amazingly brilliant husband (just in case you're reading this honey) said, "All monsters are scared of the Cookie Monster. Do you want to wear my cookie monster shirt?"

"YES!" our son said gleefully. He was very excited to wear Daddy's shirt and he got off our bed as fast as a jackrabbit. He was practically swimming in blue, but he was so happy he went off to bed without another peep. It worked! I still can't believe it worked. A Cookie Monster shirt (or should I say my husband?) saved the day. It was either a stroke of luck or a stroke of genius, maybe a little of both. *smile*

The next day, my husband went shopping and found a Cookie Monster shirt in our son's size.  Our little boy was thrilled and wore it to bed that night.

The moral of the story: a happy Monster trumps a scary Monster. And with the Cookie Monster, you have the bonus of the whole yummy cookie thing, too.

This is not meant to be an advertisement for Cookie Monster or Cookie Monster clothing, but if it works for you and/or your children, use it!

Comments

Anonymous said…
When my son was small, I ran into the Monster issue, as well. My solution was to explain to him that the monster was HIS monster and that he was in charge and the monster has to do as he says.

Never heard about monsters from him again.

Popular posts from this blog

Flashes of light

I am a medium , so I 'see' things. *smile* Well, every now and then, I see a small light. (And I don't mean an orb or a light flying around the room like Tinkerbell.) I am talking about a small pinprick of light that remains stationary and lasts for 2-3 seconds. It resembles a star from the night sky, albeit a very miniature one. This little 'flash of light' is a spirit. Sometimes I see a 'flash of light' (or a miniature star) around clients during readings --- either near the client's chair or in another part of the room. Also, I remember seeing them in a museum, on the trail in the woods, here at home, and at church. When I see that pinprick of light, I focus on asking the spirit to provide me with more information and to share their essence . Much like seeing spirit in side vision , it's a way that we can perceive those in spirit. These flashes of light are just another way for spirit loved ones to communicate that they are with us. In fact, some

Timeframe for spirit contact

Q: My mom just died unexpectedly last week. Is it too soon for me to try to make contact with her through you? I vaguely remember someone telling me that they're not "available" right after they pass? Is there a general timeframe? Please let me know. Thank you. A: There is no official wait time before establishing communication with a spirit loved one. I have noticed some spirits are ready to communicate immediately and other spirits take longer. Some mediums suggest a six month time period. I feel this is a good timeframe for many clients because by then they have processed some of their grief and are not in a desperate space. There is a difference between being ready and being needy. It just depends on the client and the spirit. Trust your own soul regarding this. When you are ready, you just know. What a blessing it is that you know you will connect with your mother's spirit in divine right timing and that love never dies. If you have a general question whose answ

Your job during a mediumship reading

If you are the person who is receiving a mediumship reading and desiring spirit contact, you have a very important job --- CONFIRMATION. This means confirmation either by your own personal knowledge or thru the personal knowledge of another person known to the spirit. During the course of the mediumship reading, you can confirm the information that you know to be true. And some information may require validation after the reading with friends or other family members who are privy to this certain info. Here are some examples of ways in which a spirit may try to validate who they are: The spirit's personality traits or physical characteristics may be described. This is part of what I call the Essence of Spirit . Most spirits are willing to share how they passed with the medium. Sometimes the spirit will give names very clearly or just the initial. Often spirits will give important dates of reference to further validate themselves. They have been known to mention other family members,