reality check

In the past few months we've employed all sorts of techniques to help Andy feel comfortable in the dark at bedtime. It's normal at this age for preschoolers to have nightmares and fears of the dark, so we've given him a bottle of "Monster Spray" that he can use to target any wild monsters that might appear in his room. Actually, he's been quick to tell me, the spray melts them on contact. We've had a good deal of success with Monster Spray in the evenings.

Of course where you have a little boy and a spray bottle of water, you have the potential for silliness and a bit of a soggy mess. The spraying of the monsters has rapidly de-evolved into a squirting game. Shawn gets into the act, too, and gets pretty goofy. There's a lot of hooting and hollering when all I want is for everybody to be calm and quiet and to get into bed.

Last night they got especially silly, and Shawn grabbed the Monster Spray bottle and squirted Andy. He was expecting Andy to grab the bottle back and retaliate.

Instead, Andy froze. Then he burst into tears of terror and shouted fearfully, "Oh no! Now I'm going to melt!"