Pregnancy
Not-So-Scary-Stories
by Doug HalseyHalloween is creeping up and when it arrives we will see plenty of scary movies, stories, and costumes. And of course, this is the best part of Halloween -- we all love a good fright once in a while. But the question a parent must ask is "Do I want my child to be afraid to go to bed at night?"
Older kids are more likely to handle a good scare, but what about your younger children? Are scary stories appropriate to hear? Since we really don't want them to go to bed frightened, we spoke to a few children's librarians and a family therapist to see what Halloween books won't keep the little ones awake at night.
Family therapist Carleton Kendrick says, "Up until around the age of five, a kid's ability to distinguish between make believe and real isn't that well developed. So you never know what will scare your child."
Some kids are scared of clowns. Some kids are scared of the vacuum cleaner. "When your child asks something like, 'does that mean he could come and get me mommy?' then what you're reading is too scary. Even if you tell your child, 'Oh it's not real -- it's just make believe,' you've already planted something that will still scare him." Kendrick says.
So for kids under five, it's probably best to avoid the truly frightening. When a kid says, "Tell me a scary story," they are trying to emulate their older brothers and sisters and not be a baby. And as one children's librarian pointed out, when a young child says they'd like to hear a scary story, they don't mean Friday the 13th. They mean Where the Wild Things Are or There's a Monster in My Closet.
Sandra Stewart Cole is a librarian and has some great alternatives to telling kids nightmarish stories. Tell them 'scary' jokes and riddles. "What does a ghost like to eat for breakfast? -- Booberry Pancakes!" "What did the ghost say when he got scared? -- I want my mummy!" And of course, there are many mystery stories that are suspenseful but not real scary, like The Monsters' Test by Brian Heinz and The Berenstein Bears in the Dark by Stan and Jan Berenstein.
