Emily had a terrible time going to sleep last night. When we went in to check on her, she said, "I want someone to sleep with me so no bad dreams will come." So I asked her what she was dreaming about. She said, "Mommy, every night when I am asleep a monster comes and opens my door!"
I said, "No, sweetie, that's Mommy and Daddy. We open your door when we go to bed. We thought you liked your door open."
She said, "No, Mommy, it's a monster."
So I thought about it for a minute and then said, "Well, what if in the morning we make a sign for your door that says 'No Monsters Allowed.' Then they wouldn't be able to come in. What do you think of that?"
She said, "Okay. I don't want any bugs in my house, either. So we can put no bugs on it. And no snails!"
I said I thought that was a good idea. At 7:00 this morning, she got up, went to the drawer and got paper and crayons, asked me for scissors and glue, and got right to work. First she drew a monster (a smiling, friendly-looking monster, if you ask me). Then she drew an "x" over it. Then she drew a snail, and another "x." Finally she drew a pirate with an "x" over him, too. (I am not sure what happened to the bugs. I didn't want to interrupt her or make her focus on something she may have forgotten.) Then she cut out the pictures, glued them onto a piece of green cardstock, and we stuck it to her door. Now we can be sure that there will be no mosters, snails, or pirates in her room tonight!
