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!
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
Never heard about monsters from him again.