Ghostbusting 101 for Parents

Little SaraJean (Okay, that’s not her name, but I don’t like to use her name in my articles!) has recently become very, very obsessed with ghosts. I think the main reason is because her dad has her hooked on Scooby Doo, which is full of creepy creatures—and even though they are unmasked at the end of each episode, their frightening images are still left in the minds of kiddos who watch them.

Recently at our art class, I overheard some mothers discussing how they couldn’t believe their children had nightmares. “What on earth could they have nightmares about?” demanded one mother, and another promptly agreed.

I would say… A lot. Even if they don’t watch television, there are plenty of things for kids to be scared of. From book characters to parents leaving (especially after a first time with a babysitter) to creepy toys to learning more about the world every day—especially about things that we take for granted, like bugs or weird animals or strange noises—kids have a lot of potentially scary things to have nightmares about! It’s up to us as parents to take them seriously and help them sleep well.

When Little SaraJean says she sees ghosts, I don’t discount it. It could be her imagination; it’s very creative. It could be real; I’m not arrogant enough (at least, I hope I’m not) to conclusively say that there are or that there aren’t things that I cannot see that my daughter can. It could just be from watching Scooby Doo, which is, I think, the most plausible case.

What I tell her is that what she sees can’t hurt her. She seems satisfied with that. I don’t offer extra information to make her even more afraid; I only go by what she tells me. Since the information differs quite regularly, I am more inclined to think that her imagination and Scooby Doo are at play. Still, I definitely don’t want to bark, “I don’t believe you!” at her, or “There’s no such thing as ghosts!” like other relatives have; I can only imagine how she’d feel. She doesn’t bark “There’s no such thing as fairies!” at me, after all, when I exclaim over a “fairy ring” around our tree.

So I turned to this cute little book about ghosts I coincidentally found at the library. Called Hush, Baby Ghostling, it’s about a baby ghost who is afraid to go to sleep during the day because there might be humans around! So the Mommy ghost tells him stories about monsters, that kids can’t hurt him, and that she’ll turn the dark on if he’s scared of the light. Basically, it’s all of the opposite things that our kids fear, wrapped up in an adorable story with sweet characters. So far, Little SaraJean is really enjoying the story before bed (as well as its contingent discussions), and we haven’t had a “ghostly encounter” in a few days.