Pet Peeves

[Trumpetmaster]

Actually...the whole family keeps up the bad habit of leaving the lights on in unoccupied rooms.

I do this and have to change that bad habit

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The 4-year-old wants the bathroom light on when he goes to bed so he feels safe and secure. If you turn the light off, he'll wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning screeching that the light is not on The bathroom light is about as bright as a light tower beacon! I've got it down to where half the bulbs are out now and then I plan to switch to nightlights until he can sleep through the night without any issues. He falls asleep fairly quickly but tends to stay upAY SPAST

What about those night lights you plug into the wall? Would that help?

[Serenity]

The night lights aren't strong enough. I think he believes the bright light keeps monsters out of the closet and from under the bed; that developed after he saw Monsters, Inc.

[Trumpetmaster]

The night lights aren't strong enough. I think he believes the bright light keeps monsters out of the closet and from under the bed; that developed after he saw Monsters, Inc.

What about that movie with Howie Mandell?
He played a friendly character that was under the kids bed...
I think the characters name was Maurice...
Can't remember the name of the movie....

[Serenity]

Little Monsters !

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097758/synopsis

[Trumpetmaster]

Little Monsters !

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097758/synopsis

Yes... that was the movie

perhaps that may help the situation

Good Luck...

[analog]

The night lights aren't strong enough. I think he believes the bright light keeps monsters out of the closet and from under the bed; that developed after he saw Monsters, Inc.

I distinctly remember at about that age being absolutely sure there was a lion in the closet that similarly disappeared when the lights came on.
It began after seeing some "B" movie where a group of people trapped in a hut in a jungle someplace were being eaten by lions just outside the door.

Your 4 year old has my sympathy - i remember being terrified.

I suggest a BIG teddy bear.
And one of those LED nightlights from Walmart - they cost $1.58 and the light has a strange blue white tint. Present it as anti-monster light, and hold him up and have him plug it in himself so he'll feel more empowered.
Don't forget the big Teddy.

a.

[Trumpetmaster]

The night lights aren't strong enough. I think he believes the bright light keeps monsters out of the closet and from under the bed; that developed after he saw Monsters, Inc.

I distinctly remember at about that age being absolutely sure there was a lion in the closet that similarly disappeared when the lights came on.
It began after seeing some "B" movie where a group of people trapped in a hut in a jungle someplace were being eaten by lions just outside the door.

Your 4 year old has my sympathy - i remember being terrified.

I suggest a BIG teddy bear.
And one of those LED nightlights from Walmart - they cost $1.58 and the light has a strange blue white tint. Present it as anti-monster light, and hold him up and have him plug it in himself so he'll feel more empowered.
Don't forget the big Teddy.

a.

Analog,
"Present it as anti-monster light"
What a terrific idea!

TM

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I remember spraying Lysol spray under beds, in closets, behind doors, and under the bathroom sink. It's supposed to kill germs, too, but that's entirely a side benefit to its main use as a monster repellent. Works like a charm - all the monsters were repelled and ejected from the bedrooms and none of my kids were ever bemonstered! Things that have a lingering clean scent are a good tactic; smells get into the back of your brain where the worrying happens, even when you're asleep. It seems to provide an extra sense of security.

I also hold to the view that monsters lay eggs and hatch baby monsters inside the sneakers: we sprayed the sneakers thoroughly!

Can you put dimmer switches in for the lights? You can turn them down gradually and it's easier than trying to turn them entirely off all at once.

[Serenity]

Things that have a lingering clean scent are a good tactic; smells get into the back of your brain where the worrying happens, even when you're asleep. It seems to provide an extra sense of security.

I also hold to the view that monsters lay eggs and hatch baby monsters inside the sneakers: we sprayed the sneakers thoroughly!

I'll have to try this, I've never thought about spraying the room before bedtime.

As far as using a teddy bear, well, he has a couple of stuffed bears and i often find them stuffed between his bed and the wall. He's probably using them to prevent monsters from coming up the side of the bed up against the wall, where the heating/AC vent is. He spent a couple of weeks asking every night about bears. "Do bears eat people?" "Do bears know how to open the door?" "Can bears climb walls?" "Are bears good or bad?" "Are bears awake at night?" "What do bears eat?" "Is our dog a little bear?""Is a bear soft like our dog?""Are bears outside our house in the woods?" When the questions stopped I found his 2 stuffed bears stuffed between the bed and wall. He's seen Jurassic Park and has a stuffed dinosaur but has never asked about dinosaurs.

He also seems to dislike the noisy vents; maybe it's because he saw the movie Monster House with his brothers. But even before that movie he's had a problem with our ventilation ducts because he used to get into the habit, a while back, of stuffing things down the vent.....ball pit balls, toy cars, Star Wars characters, etc. And he wouldn't explain his logic either.

[analog]

Vent ducts? I hope he didn't see Aliens..

Let him help with however you monster-proof his room.

smells get into the back of your brain where the worrying happens, even when you're asleep.

--- excellent observation !!!

a.

[Serenity]

Vent ducts? I hope he didn't see Aliens..

Let him help with however you monster-proof his room.

smells get into the back of your brain where the worrying happens, even when you're asleep.

--- excellent observation !!!

a.

The observation was Selma's; I tried to quote a portion of her post and had a drunken-stupor,blond senior moment.

The other thing that works is to just let him get so tired that he conks out on his own without a fight. He won't be seeing Aliens anytime soon but some of the horror movie previews on channels like Fox are bad enough. Yet he plays Ben10 Alien and pretends to change into all of the aliens or he'll watch movies with his brothers that are not really for his age but he wants to be together with his brothers watching Spiderman or the Hulk. When the Hulk is running across the desert sands, my kid takes off running around the house as fast as possible and has it timed pretty well enough that he gets back to the TV for the next scene.

[piqaboo]

We went thru that a couple times. Once was invisible people. They werent scary so much as Altoid wanted to know who they were and why they were there. Once was invisible monsters.
Once was an elephant that just would not leave her alone - apparently night noises were being interpreted as an elephant. For a while, it helped if I ordered the elephant to go home or else. Then I had to start calling its mom, and finally it just would not leave. Once we put a loud ticking clock in the room (we wanted a quiet one but were too cheap to pay for one), it helped. She told me that the clock noise helps her not be scared when she hears other noises at night.
Altoid never having watched The Hulk, doesnt do the run, but does do all the dancing in any movie.
We were just given Monsters Inc DVD for her. She's had MI books for two years and likes them. I was going to show her the DVD in the next month or so, but perhaps I'll wait!
One night she woke up crying about a scary bear, so I sent in her Dad - he's way scarier than any old bear, and he scared that thing clear to tarnation. She was calm and asleep again in minutes.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

...Once was invisible people. They werent scary so much as Altoid wanted to know who they were and why they were there....

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today -
Oh, how I wish he'd go away!

I don't remember who wrote that, or when, or in what context but the silly thing is stuck in my head and I'll never get rid of it. It would appear that Altoid's invisible people have been around for quite some time.

[Shapley]

"I see dead people."

A bit more recent. I saw that movie over the weekend....

[jamiebk]

The poem was written by William Hughes Mearns

[Schmeelkie]

Luckily I have not had the monsters problem with Pumpkin. He used to need his airplane light on (little 4 watt bulb in paper maiche (sp?) plane), but when we put glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, he didn't want the light on anymore. And he only wakes in the night about once a month or less - usually only when he's sick. He'll sometimes have nightmares and call out. I come into his room, sit next to him, touch him and tell him it's all right - he goes right back to sleep and usually doesn't remember this happening in the morning. He's a VERY deep sleeper. He just wants someone to stay in the room while he's going to sleep - says he gets lonely. Lately I've been leaving after 5-10 when he's almost asleep - he'll roll over and watch me leave, but rarely says anything. Sometime after the Kindergarten transition I'll start leaving earlier and get him to go to sleep without anyone there.
Now if I could just get Bella to sleep through the night....was up for almost 2 hrs last night waiting for her to stop coughing. Seems fine during the day - but has nighttime sniffles. Running the humidifier and giving her honey kinda helps...the honey at least keeps it just coughing - not cough, cough, cough, puke!

on topic - motorcycles going 20mph over the speed limit - I almost changed lanes into one the other day - barely saw it coming.

Been hearing on the traffic reports more car vs bike accidents...

[barfle]

I have monsters in my computer at work. They bother me incessangly, and only a few of them are named like composers or strange meals...

Beer usually makes them go away.

[dai bread]

The monster in my computer has a very wide outlook.

[Serenity[bot]]

The word monster connotes something wrong/evil; e.g.: a monstrous being is: very morally objectionable, physically or psychologically hideous.
Morally objectionable does not compute
Hideous does not compute
Evil does not compute

[piqaboo]

The monster in my computer has a very wide outlook.

Word!

He just wants someone to stay in the room while he's going to sleep - says he gets lonely. Lately I've been leaving after 5-10 when he's almost asleep - he'll roll over and watch me leave, but rarely says anything. Sometime after the Kindergarten transition I'll start leaving earlier and get him to go to sleep without anyone there.

You are such a nice mom. I make the little momser go to sleep on her own unless I know of extreme overtiredness or illness. She asks me to 'stay for 2 no 3 songs' pretty much every night. When I succomb, she asks for more when the songs are done.