Few people manage to get through childhood without dealing with some very real fears and at least one constant imaginary one – the Boogeyman. My grandson has recently entered that age where “bump” things are going on in his closet and imaginary monsters are hiding under the bed.
I still remember my fight with the Boogeyman. To this day I swear I saw him one night looking out the window through my grandmother’s dining room. No one and nothing ever erased that image from my mind, or I was well convinced that it wouldn’t really happen.
So I began to wonder where the whole story of the Boogeyman began. Did it come from a story about a real person who had done something unforgivable? Or was it just born out of someone’s more creative imagination? However, more than he started, I wondered how he lived for thousands of years.
Some would suggest that the whole Boogeyman idea lands on the laps of parents who use fictional characters to terrorize their children into submission. I hate you to think that’s true; that anyone could be a cruel parent. But unfortunately it has the ring of truth to it. However, it still begs the question, what motivated that parent to use that kind of threat?
Many people think that the monster was created out of a natural fear of the dark. This is, after all, one of the first fears. It goes back to the very beginning of time. We are, after all, creatures of light. Darkness does not come naturally to us, and therefore the blackness of its ink must become a fertile ground for all imaginary creatures.
Others suggest that the Boogeyman grew out of the dark stories and legends of werewolves, vampires and other creatures that always inhabited the night. I can buy myself into this one. When I was little, I loved horror movies. I don’t know why I loved them, because the truth is that they scare me.
I remember once watching a movie called “4-D Man”. Asterisk Robert Lansing half partner of a scientific brother who had created an amplifier that allowed to enter the fourth dimensional state. This meant that Scott (Lansing’s character) could pass through any object, including brick walls.
After I saw that movie, I couldn’t sleep for weeks. I just knew that the man was going to come through my room at 4-D to get me.
I had an irrational fear of vampires and werewolves alike. What can I say, I was an imaginary child? What my experiences show, however, is how easily children can take such stories from books and movies and transfer them into them. his own Boogeymen.
Witches also included witches and goblins as innocent books. Think of all the evil creatures that are in the very popular children’s book Harry Potter series. How can we not hope children to take away the negative aspects of the stories and the fruitful thoughts that each one cultivates?
But applying the sentence to my grandson, I realized that it could not be the only reason for the creation of the Boogeyman. We never read him stories with scary creatures in them and carefully screen everything he watches on television. Additionally, his favorite movie is “Monster, Inc.” which clearly depicts the scary characters of the story, as a child, not a monster. So where does the Boogeyman come from?
I found the answer quite by accident. My nephew has thousands of friends in the neighborhood. They range in age from two to twelve. It just works this way. The whole neighborhood is close; one of those ideal places where everyone looks out for everyone.
Recently, Josh joined the “dream” brigade. This is obviously not a problem> when the children he sleeps with are over the age (four). Sometimes, however, older children (between seven and nine) were also joined.
One night he happened to be in a group after I thought he had been sleeping for a long time. Of course not. The older children told the younger stories ghost-stories to each other without thinking about the effect of the stories on the children. It was, as they say, my “ah ha” moment.
Older children are not the only ones trained to “pretend to be asleep.” Some of the little ones were listening to stories. It wasn’t long before many of them developed their own Boogeymen.
Obviously, it is impossible to wrap children up to protect them from all the evils of the world. They will have an explanation from time to time whatever we do. Unfortunately, that means the Boogeyman will probably make an appearance at one point or another.
But what we can do, as parents and grandparents take away the Boogeyman’s power, is also by reinforcing positive role models. We warned my grandson, his guardian angel – – whom he named Charlie, after me – never to hurt him. to come to himself We also remind him that “Teddy” is right by his side ready to protect him.
I hold him tight and give him one of the dwarf’s protective kisses. Then I remind mamma and papa and sometimes even nana and papa that there is only one door; always ready to defend against injury.
So far it has worked out. The Boogeyman hasn’t made a return appearance in weeks.
I don’t think we can ever drive the monster away. It is not something new and it is not part of our culture. it exists everywhere and in each species of the world, in one form or another; But what we can do is never allow him to providing our children with what they need most our love is unequivocal. So far, nothing has ever been able to break the strength of that bond, and he vows to me that nothing ever will.
