This morning over Cheerios, Elspeth (3 1/2) asked me if we were like Playmobil figures and Jesus just played with us and made us do whatever he wanted. She illustrated her point: So when P-- comes over tonight, it will be like this. . .
She extended her arm, pretending she was holding a figurine, and plopped it along the table: Plu, plu, plu, she said.
And tonight we rehashed a much replayed bedtime theme: MONSTERS. I tried to explain that her imagination belonged to her, and she was in charge of what sort of monsters came in. I told her a story about a little girl who plays so happily with her friend Fleurfleur that she never realizes Fleurfleur is a monster. Well, one day Fleurfluer comes over to play and her mother opens the front door and shouts: Ahhh! A monster!
To help Elspeth, Merry shared her memories of being afraid of monsters jumping out of her closet--she just imagined that any flick of light, in the house or on the street, would dissolve the monster, and so she was no longer afraid. When I came to kiss her she confided, Actually, I am still afraid of monsters sometimes. But (with a shrug) I just go with it.
And Elspeth made me alter the sign next to her bed so it now reads:
NO MONSTERS ALLOWED.
Only nice monsters in E's imagination.
WATCH OUT! JESUS IS WITH ELSPETH!
I heard her reading the sign out loud, presumably to the monsters assembled outside our front door, angling to get in and hide in closets. It doesn't matter how many times we repeat there are no such things. And why am I afraid to go into the basement by myself at night? And why are you?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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