My eldest daughter has no problem sleeping alone in her room unless she heard a scary story from someone or has seen a scary image. As a matter of fact, I consider my daughter brave until few months after we transferred here in Bohol. She was not afraid of roaches, lizard, frogs or any animals which usually frighten kids. Whenever we visit Video City near our place in Quezon City, she usually visits the section where the Chucky Doll videos are. For her, Chucky is just another doll. I never sensed any fear on her whenever she stares on the photos of Chucky Doll. During our first months here in the church’s parsonage, she could go to the comfort room on the second floor by herself whether day or night time. She does not usually request for companion.
Her fear started when she unintentionally watched a movie about Frankenstein. It was the movie being watched when we visited the home. However I tried to divert her attention to the toys, there were times that the movie caught her attention. So she had glimpses of the movie and Frankenstein. Who wouldn’t be afraid of his looks anyway? After that, I noticed that she could no longer do her thing on the second floor without any companion. It took several months before she was able to recover from that fear.
The next instance I sensed that she was frightened was when she didn’t want to sleep on her room. I discovered that an older Sunday Schooler told her about “White Ladies” and some scary stories. A scary movie on the Sunday Schooler Mom’s cellphone was also showed to her. So I told my daughter that she shouldn’t listen to those stories when shared to her because they weren’t true. I instructed her that if someone talks about those kinds of stories she should stop them and tell them that she is not interested. If they don’t want to stop, the she should leave them. I also told her that if she’s afraid, she should pray and asked God to take away her fears.
Last night, my daughter insisted to sleep downstairs alone. But when she fell slept, I was still there. Tonight, she still wanted to sleep downstairs. So I let her but she’ll still awake until the time that she will be left alone. She suddenly changed her mind and wanted to sleep in our room. I started to wonder. I reminded her that she could no longer sleep in our room unless her Dad or I asked her to do so. She asked me if we could talk for a while. I told her that it was already pass her bed time. But since I sensed that there was something wrong, I told her to wait in her room and wait till her sister go back to sleep.
When the Little girl didn’t wake up, I checked the Big girl in her room. She told me that she was afraid because when she was in Manila, her friends showed her a scary game. I reminded her that I have told what to do in such events. She further reasoned out that she was not the one who pushed the button (probably the gadget’s button). I asked her what she should do whenever she is afraid. She answered, “Pray”. So I led her to pray. After which, she laid down on her bed without any fuss until I turned off the lights and leave her room.
However I tried my best to protect my daughter from scary things, it is simply impossible. I have no control of other people’s action and even to my daughter’s reaction. I just have to remind her that she should choose to do the right thing in any circumstance. In this case, she should not watch, listen or entertain scary stories because someone is happy when she’s afraid. She knows who is this someone. So to overcome her fear, she should pray to God to give her courage and take away her fear.
Do you have kids who are afraid of something? How do you help them conquer their fear?
This is somethign common sa kids especially to toddlers. My pamangkins are so affected by these visual horror they see in the television whenever the “adults” in the family watch a thriller or horror movie. From then on, we dont watch such movies when there are kids around or not yet asleep.