Ghost Stories

So, as I mentioned before, Ty has been enjoying Scooby Doo as of late.

Now, I will be the first to say that Scooby Doo may not be the most appropriate show for an imaginative little guy like mine. It was one of those things that we watched as kids so "it is probably fine" and neither Adrian or I paid really close attention to it for more time than we should have ...not so much. But, all that being said after a show or two he was hooked on the "imagination" monsters and how all of them had "masks ...they arent real".

It is his daily ritual to watch an episode during Canon's nap, and so began the occasional mention of "ghosts" and some such things (again, I am questioning my judgment even as I write :)

He started mentioning being concerned about monsters in his closet. A normal 5-year old thing, I figured. We closed the door to the closet as per request, encouraged him to only think of good things, pray for courage, and not worry about monsters in his closet :)

It took a couple of weeks of this before he casually mentioned it one night, and I pursued it a bit farther. I asked Ty, "why are you worried about monsters in your closet?"

His response, "Well, it is just odd (yes, he used that word) that we close the door every night and then in the morning it is open. I think we have a ghost in our room."

Now, I thought, "hmm, interesting." But, I didnt think much about it. I, again, encouraged him to not worry about it and assured him that just like on Scooby Doo, ghosts and monsters are just our imagination and arent anything we need to be stressed about.

It was not until I was putting laundry away that night after he went to bed.. in his room...in his closet...that I realized that he was not crazy. I was the ghost/monster.

I was, first impressed at his accurate observation (I was in his closet just about every night putting clothes away). Then, I felt horrible that because of something I was doing my poor kid was worried every night over someone/something in his closet every night!

I came clean the next day, and he was both relieved and a bit instructive when he sweetly said, "mommy, could you please tell me before you put my clothes away at night?"

Sure, buddy. Poor kid :)