monster

One of my good friends, Cindy, asked me why the memory of the boy who died in my swimming pool floated into my thoughts recently. (Nice metaphor, Cindy.)

Here's the answer...

I went into Milo's room one day last week after he'd awakened from his nap. There he stood in his crib, holding on to his blankie and blinking sleepily, his mussed-up hair a wild halo around his head.

I asked him if he'd had a good nap -- and he looked up at me and said, "Monster, mommy!"

"Monster?" I repeated. "Did you just have a dream of a monster?"

He shook his head, then pointed down at the space between the wall and the bottom of his crib. "Monster down there."

The boy is barely two years old and he already has a monster under his bed.

So it begins.

The good news is, thanks to his newfound-inspired addiction to the Muppet Show (we recently bought the entire first season on DVD and it still ROCKS), the monster under Milo's bed is definitely friendly.

It probably goes by the name of Sweetums and looks something like this:


Whereas the monster that lived in my closet during most of my childhood (only to be replaced by the bearded axe-murderer discussed in this previous post) looked something like this:


... And no one ever called him "Sweetums."

The appearance of Milo's new bedside companion got me thinking about the faces we see in the shadowy corners of our lives -- are they friendly or menacing? Angels or devils?

When the aliens appear, will they be benevolent teachers or ruthless overlords holding well-worn copies of "To Serve Man" in their tentacled grasp?

All this basically translates to how we apprehend the unknown -- in the world at large, in the people we encounter in our daily lives, and most especially within ourselves.

For too many years, I saw demons wherever I looked.

I mistrusted the motives of others. I expected the worst-case scenario to be the logical conclusion to any situation. Strangers were potential enemies. Pointed looks and whispered conversations were always about me -- and they were always insulting (but laser-accurate, of course).

It wasn't until I hit my 30s that I finally came to like myself for who I am, as opposed to despising myself for not being who I thought I should be. (And not to go all hippy on your ass or anything, but I give full props to yoga for my mental paradigm shift.)

Lo and behold, the universe became a friendlier place -- shadows, strangers, and all.

Now, I know Milo is going to encounter evil in this world. I'm not sure I would keep him sheltered him from it, even if I could. After all, how will he learn to overcome adversity if he never encounters it?

But if he's lucky -- and I desperately hope he is -- the monster lurking in the dark corners of his life will always be "Sweetums."

How about you? What monsters are hiding in the shadowy regions of your life? And are they friendly or sinister?