Lately, Pea has been saying all kinds of stuff that baffles and stuns me. Most of it is cute stuff, that makes me laugh in amazement.
Like when we play with her giant fruit stand, and out of nowhere she calls me ‘Sir?’ That’s cute.
Like when I am trying to get her to sleep and she tells me she is playing doctor as she rams her fingers into my mouth? That’s cute. And a little painful.
Like when we are playing with her Little People toys just before her bath, and she says “Are the monsters coming to get me?” That’s… wait, what?
Monster, I get. We live in a world of adorable fuzzy beings that can’t be called anything except for ‘monster.’ The ‘coming to get me’ part was a little harder to grasp.
I was floored. When the F did my little girl come to understand that monsters are things that will come to get her?
As she said this, I corralled her and held her close. She looked legitimately scared (granted, she could have been scared by the look on my face). I looked her straight in the eyes and told her that no monsters ever would come to take her away from me. I took her downstairs so she could see that I will not tolerate ANY monsters in this house and we didn’t return upstairs again until I was sure she understood… well, as sure as I can be that she understands anything really.
Hearing her say this was legitimately upsetting. If I have made anything clear on this blog, it’s that I take my role as protector of all things Pea-related very seriously, and the realization that I can’t protect her from her own thoughts was very hard for me, to say the least.
So I offer this New Rule: kids who are barely 2 years old should not be afraid of monsters. They should not be afraid of anything dammit.
Believe it or not I actually think this is a good thing. She is obviously figuring out that there are some things that are scary and she needs to protect herself from them. She may not have it exactly right yet, that will take time.
We want our kids to have good instincts and trust their gut because, one day, in the big, bad world, they will need this. After all, that is our job as parents. Not to protect them from everything but to teach them how to protect and care for themselves. It is a process, for sure, and Pea is just starting her journey.
Yes….the monsters (on mon-ner as Will calls them). He talks about them too but more in a playful way. I think Erin’s right – it’s a rite of passage – I remember being terrified of monsters…I think it was Scooby Doo! (love the picture too btw..:))
Ah Shawn,
Dammit is right. I had both the doctor/dentist (I was treated for a virus and a cavity with a TV remote control) game and the monsters tonight. The monsters have been around for a few years, I don’t really know where they came from although they do pop up in books and on TV. I remember coming to the word in books and thinking, should I say it…at first I didn’t, I substituted but the monsters still came. Tonight I had to turn the light on many times to show that there were no monsters, and I lay with them until they are asleep. I think it’s a childhood rite of passage.