Nighttime scaries!

Maya has started to have some real fears at nighttime. Before Mike set off on his current business trip, she made him remove all items from the wall facing her bed. The first to go was the big Ethiopian flag on it because, well, as Maya put it: "Lion roar, scary".

Then we had to remove the little stuffed animals from that side of the room, plus her yellow diaper holder, plus her sticker reward chart. All of these items were scary. So they had to go.

Next, Mike had to have a little talk with the imaginary "people" in the corner behind Maya's dresser. Because, after all, the "people" were annoying her and making her scared. After Mike left, all the scary items were gone. But that doesn't mean we still haven't had to deal with the "people" in the corner every night.

So last night, Maya told me to "talk" to the "people". I went over and started gesticulating and talking to them. I told them not to bother Maya. But apparently they didn't listen because I was sent back to talk to them again. This time, I told them to turn around and face the wall, and to not even look at Maya. But those naughty people still didn't listen. So I picked them up by the scruffs of their necks and tossed them in the closet and shut the door. That took care of those people. In fact, they are still in the closet, or so I am told.

However, after I threw those people in the closet, some new people came and took their place. Naturally I couldn't just put the newcomers in the closet because, well, the old guys might escape. So instead, I very cleverly put them on "time out until daytime". So far it is working.