A couple weeks ago, out of the blue, Owen started being scared of his room. As he went to bed he started saying that his bed was scary. I was confused but thought it was probably some sort of pretend play that he and Ellie had done and he had carried it over to bed time. Well, he was genuinely scared of the grates/headboard on his bed. He would say, "It's reawy scary". So, I did what any good mom would do and showed him behind his bed, under his bed, looked all around the covers to show him that there was nothing to be afraid of. Finally, I covered his headboard with blankets and that is how he has been sleeping since then.
Then, a couple nights ago as I was laying in bed with him, he pointed to the shadows above his bed and said "I'm reawy scared". So, I showed him how it was just his night light casting a shadow and made some funny shadow shapes for him. I was getting concerned that he was just afraid to be in his room anymore.
Then yesterday, Elise said she wanted to watch Monsters, Inc. Again. She really loves the movie, thinks it is hilarious and often requests to watch it. I've watched it several times myself and it doesn't have any swears, has a good message, etc.
A couple minutes after putting the movie on, I found Owen in the play room by himself playing. I asked him, "Don't you want to go watch Monsters, Inc. with Ellie?". He replied, "No, It's too scary". OOOOOOOOOHHHHH I thought. That's it!
Monsters Inc. as the culprit was confirmed as I asked him if he wanted to come help me clean my closet instead. He said, "No, it's monsters in der". Poor kid. He's been traumatized by the cartoon. I think I just thought since Ellie was 'mature' enough for it that Owen would follow suit (after all, they seem to be much the same most the time). Poor Owen.
So, not really sure what we are going to do about this. I suppose we are going to have to have some talks about what is pretend and maybe even how the monsters are nice. Well, at least it is nice to know why the boy is afraid of his room.
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6 comments:
Ha that is funny! Especially since the movie was made to show that monsters are nice. Has he watched the end of the movie?
We had the same problem. Even though the main characters are nice, there are scary monsters in the movie that are trying to scare kids. We haven't watched it in over a year, and Ethan still can tell you about those scary monsters.
It took us an extra nightlight, a nightly sweep of the room for a while, and lots of talks about how God is bigger than the monsters and will keep us safe. And time.
Good luck! Dealing with monster fears is no fun.
Poor guy! But at least you have the fear identified and hopefully that will help you help him deal with it! Good luck! And give him a hug from Grandma.
Please give Owen a hug from Grandpa also. I really wish I could be there to do it myself. I'm glad and impressed that you discovered what's going on. He's really fortunate to have you watching his back. I'll bet he knows you do.
Love, Grandpa Weber
That's too bad that he gets scared. I've heard that if you put some water in a water bottle and call it Monster Spray (you can even put a label on it and some drops of lavendar or something that smells good), then spray his room with it before he goes to bed, that might help.
Poor Owen. Max just a little scared of that movie, but he likes it. We just have to skip the first chapter, then he's fine. I hope he gets over it soon.
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