House of Horrors

 The week before Halloween we were out shopping at the Spirit Haloween store and  we had a bit of an incident. As we walked in, there was a large witch display, which appeared harmless enough however upon further inspection I discovered a button to 'activate' the witch. Looking back I realize that choosing to push this button may not have been the best choice, but I honesly did not anticipate such an extreme backlash.
 So needless to say once the witch was activated she deemed it a good idea to lunge forward into my daughter's face while emitting a high pitched scream. The consequences of this moment are what have been surprising. I could understand that she never wanted to set foot in this store again, or even drive through the parking lot, but her fears really have gone way past just what happened inside the Halloween superstore. It now seems that everyday she is running from a 'ghost', bat or 'monster.'
  Assuming that their are not actual ghosts and monsters chasing my 3 year old around the house, I wanted to find out the best way to explain to her that she is safe and sound. After much research I have found that how you handle this type of situation really depends on the age of your child.
 For older kids, around 6 to 8 years old, it really helps to explain that these beasts are just pretend. That the store is just full of scarey toys and that the creatures in the haunted houses are playing a game. Now when it comes to the younger toddlers, like my daughter, the strategy is competely different. This age group responds better to thinking of the monsters as "nice." Little ones find it much easier to cope with the idea of a "friendly" ghost, rather than the idea that its all fake. At this age the kids are simply not able to use enough reason to distinguish the difference between real and pretend so keeping the explanation clear and simple is key.
 I found that it is also essential to try to explain these creatures while you are in the moment. If your toddler tries to run from the scene, give some hugs and kisses and take that moment to describe what is really happening. If my daughter is watching TV and a scarey image is on I don't want her to run away  and hide, otherwise she will be left with that horrific image in her head for the rest of the day including at bedtime.
These types of images are nearly immpossible to avoid, so the best solution is to  know how your little one reacts to certain situations, and when in doubt don't push the "on" button.