Some initial notes: the girls are 11 and 8. Over the summer they attended an overnight Girl Scout's camp. They came back telling ghost stories. At least two of three children were emotionally scarred in the making of this post.
So it's October. October means horror movies, ghost stories etc. Ol' letter 'd' decided to break out one of the ghost stories from his youth and tell it to his kids at bedtime. So off goes the light, on goes the flashlight under the chin and the kids are in a circle sitting next to lovely wife. I then proceed to (badly) tell The Golden Arm. It's been a while since I've told this story, I hit the high points and make up my way through the rest. As the ghost of the wife makes her way through the house, the girls scootch closer to lovely wife. Good, at least I've gotten the atmosphere right. Then comes the big reveal, You've got it! The girls scream and burst into tears. Oh yeah, I've still got it. Lights come up. Girls are in hysterics. "Daaad, that story was scary! We don't like scary stories!" (Note: this is patently untrue, see initial notes) I make some brief attempts at calming them down.
We head out of the room telling them to go to bed. Lovely wife is helping G get ready for bed. (And laughing) The girls start talking in their room. This is the point at which true parenting comes in handy. I lowly whisper outside their door, "Where's my golden arm?" Shrieks ensue. I wait a five count, throw open the door and yell "You've got it!" Shrieks become full blown panic attacks. Tears, screaming, the whole nine yards. Lovely wife? In the bathroom doubled over in laughter. Unable to breathe laughter. We then spend the next 10 minutes calming the girls down (and by we, I mean lovely wife). I get several "How could you" looks from the kids. And then proceed to call little sis to relay the story. More laughter ensues.
Oh and through pretty much this entire situation G just wondered what all the fuss was about.
Parenting is an art. It takes a soft touch to raise kids. And a flashlight to scare the crap out of them.
2 comments:
You kill me!!! Poor kids- I bet they didn't sleep at all that night! Good thing you and Rachel bond over this kind of thing! I think she may torment me when we go to the haunted house next week! I HATE BEING SCARED!
I still love it and am still laughing! So funny. I'm going to have to do that to our kids and see if anything happens. Hmm I wonder, maybe frighten favorite niece? Can't wait for the haunted house Jen is taking us to. Do it again, find another story, afterall you have the whole month.
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