When Grandma was a little girl-cont'd

Scary monsters under my bed! … Story #4
Have you ever been frightened and thought monsters lived under your bed?

Well, when I was a little girl I was sure that monsters lived under my bed! I did not have a night-light in my bedroom. I would tell my mom that I was scared at night and monsters lived under my bed. Well, she would look under my bed and then have me look under my bed and sure enough there were no monsters. It was perfectly clear under my bed. But somehow when the light switch went OFF I knew they just magically appeared under there! I wouldn’t even let one toe of my foot hang over the edge for fear that a furry monster’s hand would grab it and pull me under the bed and I’d be dead and gone forever! My parents wouldn’t find me in the morning and they’d wonder what happened to me. Many times I pleaded for a light to be left on and my mom would say, ‘There’s no monsters under you bed, now go to sleep and shut off that over active imagination of yours!’ Well, that just wasn’t any comfort what so ever to me! ‘I just KNEW that there WERE monsters living UNDER my bed!’ So there!

Well, I started wetting my bed a few times a week and for punishment, I had to strip off the sheets and take them to the washer. I was scolded for wetting my bed. I was not allowed to have anything to drink after 7:00p.m. That helped some, but I still wet the bed a couple of times. My mom was so upset with me for doing that! Now that I am a mom, I realize how much work that is to strip the bed, wash the sheets, dry them and remake the bed! Out of frustration one day, my mom asked me, ‘Why do you keep wetting your bed? Why can’t you just wake yourself up and go to the bathroom?’ I very clearly explained to her, “Mom, monsters live under my bed and I am too scared to get out of my bed and go through the kitchen, through the dining room, then down the little short hall and finally into the bathroom. No matter ‘how fast I run’ from my bedroom and the long way it is to get to the bathroom, I would never make it to the bathroom. I would be eaten! There wouldn’t be anymore Diana!” Why was it so hard for her to see that? Good grief! I was scared spitless! Yes, I knew I was wetting the bed fully awake and I had a good reason! I think the light bulb in mom’s brain FINALLY went ON! Wow! My daughter Diana has a real fear of monsters and I think I better fix this.

So, what do you think happened next?

My mom got a ‘night-light’ for my bedroom and a small light was left ON from the kitchen and family room and in the little hall and in the bathroom! I never wet the bed again! Problem solved. AND, with the night light ON in my bedroom the monsters couldn’t come out. You see, monsters don’t like the light. They only come out in the DARK! Although I can clearly remember it took a lot of courage that first night to test the ‘lights on theory’ and not see any monsters come after me! I ran pretty fast to the bathroom. Guess what? I never saw any monsters and none ever came after me!

A little note here---
Back in those days, pull-ups and disposable diapers had not been invented yet. Also, I realized when I was older, about 10 years old, that no monsters lived under the bed and it was all in my imagination. But to a very young child, monsters were real. Sometimes as a parent, we do not take the time to ‘ask’ why our children have certain fears. We sometimes pass judgment and pronounce a sentence of punishment. I was grateful my mother finally listened to my fear and had lights left on for me. That’s all I ever wanted from the beginning, to leave a light ON. As a little girl that light left on made me feel so much better and safer.