It’s 9:00 p.m. For the past hour, four-year-old Emma and her Mother have been in a battle of wits. Mom has been urging Emma to turn off the light and go to sleep. Emma refuses, sure that some unknown, unnamed scary creature comes into her bedroom after dark. Emma’s Mom tries to reassure her daughter that she is perfectly safe but Emma just shakes her head. They’ve been through this for the past 3 nights.
Sound familiar? If so, don’t feel bad; this type of nighttime fear is very common in kids between the ages of 3-8, when kids have especially creative imaginations!
Instead of telling your child “There’s nothing to be afraid of”, acknowledge what they are feeling and suggest that the two of you create a “Monster Spray” to keep the scary things out of their bedroom! This gives the child an empowerment tool to help them feel more in control. It’s also a good lesson in facing fears, rather than trying to make them go away.
Monster Spray Recipe
- 10 d organic Lavender essential oil (Why Lavender? For the relaxing properties)
- A base of Spring water or Sweetgrass Hydrosol (Why Sweetgrass? You can explain how the Native American’s have used Sweetgrass for protection for centuries. Read more about Sweetgrass in this blog post)
- 2 oz PET plastic spray bottle (Why 2 oz plastic? It’s light and manageable for little hands)
Directions
Tell your child that monsters hate Lavender. If you feel uncomfortable “fibbing” to your child remember this: Those “monsters” are fear, and fear is real. Fear hates Lavender!
Before the child goes to sleep, make a ritual of spraying their bedroom with the magical spray, and especially over the bed. If you want to add a prayer or affirmation, this would be a good time to incorporate that. Finally, put the spray bottle next to their bed so they can use it if they wake up in the night.
If you have a nighttime “Monster Spray” or some other empowerment tool you use with your child, please share it in the comment section below!
Great idea! Even better – help the child create their own monster spray! Chose a few safe and relaxing essential oils for them to smell and decide which one will be most effective against the monsters – even more powerful!
Amy, I love the idea of giving the child their own tool to help them rise above fears. I wish I’d had a monster spray when I was 6! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Love that you note it is important to honor the fear…and LOVE your idea of a monster spray!! Very creative!
So clever! I might add that an appropriately decorated bottle might help the whole Monster Spray thing…and it could be fun to make, too. Let the kids participate in it.
Clever!
Oh goodness..Monster Spray. Love the idea! Right up my alley in terms of humor and perspective 🙂 You just gave me an idea to use when I have kids in the future. Thank you!
“Every night, when I’m asleep, into my room the monsters creep,
I call to Mom, ‘Please come and stay, and don’t forget the Monster Spray!’
She comes right in, she sprays right here, Psh, Psh,
And all my monsters disappear!”
(I’m a kindergarten teacher)
Gloria, that is a wonderful poem to accompany this spray! You are so so clever. Thank you so much for sharing – this made my day.
If you don’t want to make it yourself, check out monster-defense.com. We have a wonderful-smelling spray available now & a fun, illustrated children’s story coming out in Dec 2013-Jan 2014 that tells the story of a little boy with a monster in his room, and how he overcame his fear of monsters. In researching online prior to writing the book, we read many articles from child & adolescent psychologists and parents about recommended methods for dealing with fear of monsters, and interpreted this into a fun, rhyming story which gives parents direction on how to help & gives kids the tools necessary to overcome their fear.
I checked out your website and the sprays look great. What a wonderful idea!