When I was four or five, I was deathly afraid of our family's kitchen witch, a crafty old bag who hovered above our sink. With a burnt prune face, a mottled broom and piercing, evil eyes, it was, somehow, supposed to bring good luck. But I envisioned it flying into my room late at night to size me up for its blazing, doll-sized oven. No amount of comforting could ease my fears and eventually the witch flew off to bake other children.
Of all things, a graphic story about a tiger mauling brought back my fears and left me wondering how I'll calm my own child when she cries out against the demons lurking under her bed or in her closet.
The story goes that a few days before Christmas father Vikram Chari brought his 6-year-old son to the San Francisco Zoo. They watched in horror as a Siberian tiger mauled a zoo keeper, eating her hand and leaving the single mother, well, it ate. her. hand. My thoughts are definitely with her and her family -- but also with the young boy, who was afraid of tigers even before the attack.
"He's always scared that there are tigers under the bed at night, so this confirmed his suspicions, " Chari said. "Now he wants the light on and he wants me to go in there with him."
Chari continued, "(My son) said when we left the zoo, 'The next time, let's see the penguins being fed instead of a tiger eating a woman.' I did not want to scare him by saying that this was unusual."
What's a parent supposed to do when a child's worst fears come true? How can you assuage the fears when your kid has seen them in action? It's one thing to say, "Witches aren't real -- or at least not very good cooks." It's another thing to say, "tigers won't eat you," when your kid has proof to the contrary.
What methods work best for battling childhood demons, Babblers?
