Monsters

There’s been a lot of talk about monsters in our house lately. Rachel has talked about monsters sneaking in her window, for instance. I told her last night that there are no monsters and even if there were, it was my job as daddy to protect her and I’d always keep her safe. The problem, of course, is that there are monsters in this world and it’s impossible to guarantee the safety of our kids. There are no monsters like the ones Rachel is imagining, all purple with big teeth and a big horned head, but there are people who act in monstrous ways. Today as we were driving to preschool, I had NPR on. I wasn’t really listening to it, but Rachel was. They were talking about the Muhammad-Malvo sniper case. The reporter read a statement by Malvo who testified that Muhammad had turned him into a monster. Rachel turned to me and asked if the woman really meant that or was she just joking. I told her she was just joking, which since Rachel was picturing purple monster with big teeth was not technically a lie. At some point I’ll have to talk to her (and Sammi) about the real life monsters of the world, but when? I am certain the time is not now, but I’ll admit to complete uncertainty concerning when that will be. And of course, it’s entirely possible, even likely, that it will be taken out of my hands and she’ll learn about the monsters of the world from her friends or someone else. Do all parents think about these sorts of things? Or do most just take a “it’ll all work out” kind of attitude?