I never said that I was brave. I’m therefore cutting myself some slack for a rather cowardly performance as "boogie-man vanquisher" last weekend. I was watching television when I heard Rowan through the baby monitor.
"Mama!" he yelled. "Mama, get in here!"
Thinking that he had to pee, I rushed upstairs.
"I saw something," Rowan whispered. Then he reached his arm out from under the blankets and pointed behind me. "It was right over there."
As I glanced over my shoulder, a prickly feeling crept up my spine.
"It had two eyes," he continued, cupping his hands around his eye sockets. "Then one of the eyes disappeared." His left hand closed into a fist on "disappeared."
"Well…I’m sure..." I started, but Rowan quickly interrupted me.
"I'm serious," he insisted. "Close the door and you'll see it."
At this point, I'm thinking, "No way, kid! Don't suck me into your scary imagination! I've seen enough horror flicks to know that when little blonde children say creepy things, it's a bad sign."
Of course, I didn't say any of this to Rowan. No, I kept my composure and did what any freaked out mama would do: I snuggled into bed with him, pulled up the covers, and called out for reinforcements.
Kyle wasn't impressed.
He discovered that Rowan's monster was actually the smoke detector. "Oh, right," I thought. "That makes sense."
Deep down, though, I know that my cuddles reassured Rowan as much as Kyle’s investigation did. At least that’s what I’m choosing to believe.
So we now have a new division of labor: mama cuddles while daddy investigates.
Works for me.
-Angie
A Value to Silence
3 weeks ago
5 comments:
don't be too hard on yourself- from watching too many horror films in high school I find my self running up the stairs to bed at night after turning off the lights downstairs sure that jason or freddy are following me
Yeah, Kelly, Michelle said that you were a wimp when I told this story at book club on Sunday. I guess I'm in good company! ;)
I TOLD you Kelly was a hider! As if that thin blanket could save you. I'm an investigator, for sure! Any noise sends me to every room in the house looking for the source. I sleep better knowing there's nothing there. The way you told the story on Sunday was so funny! Glad you posted it. I never did learn at Book Club that it was the smoke detector. Funny what kids see.
Oh, I'm definitely the cuddler! I call Corey down some nights when I stay awake longer. He has to come downstairs, check all of the closets, etc and escort me upstairs to bed. Some nights I think he wants to yell, but he knows that I'm truly scared.
Michelle-
I actually didn't learn that it was the smoke detector until I talked to Kyle about it again after book club. Rowan told him that it was the smoke detector the next day. All that explaining made for too long of a story, though.
;-)
-Angie
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