Maple Leaf Mommy

A Canadian Mom's Life: Family, Food & Fun

  • Home
  • Mom Life
    • Just My Life
    • From House to Home
    • Motherhood Confessions
    • Tips, Tricks & Hacks
    • Quotes & Inspiration
  • Family
    • Parenting
    • Family Travel
    • Raising Strong Girls
    • Sandwich Generation
    • Silly Kids
  • Food
    • Cooking with Kids
    • Recipes
  • Fun
    • Activities & Fun Stuff
    • Toys That Don’t Suck
    • We Love Books
    • Time Travel
  • About
    • About Me
    • Disclosure & Privacy Policy
    • Contact Me
You are here: Home / Fun / Spooky Guys, Being Brave & Partying with Monsters

Spooky Guys, Being Brave & Partying with Monsters

October 6, 2014 by Deanna Tousignant Leave a Comment

It’s October. The month of “the spooky guys” is here, and like most young children my daughters can’t decide if they are titillated or terrified. They love Halloween, and they know that the decorations mean Halloween is coming, but some of the decorations we’ve been seeing lately are a little grim and over the top (hello dollar store, just because you can make realistic looking severed limbs doesn’t mean you should).

My eldest has been particularly spooked out by any form of Halloween decorations this year. Colourful happy witches and smiling pumpkins can send her into a tizz, because to her they signal that worse things are near by. I am trying to convince here that when it comes to pieces of inert, if sometimes disgusting, plastic, there is nothing to fear.

Two things have made a positive impression on her this season, the first was watching Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave. This film was a great launching point for conversations on fear and bravery. The basic plot outline is Thomas sees something spooky in the clay pit, but it gets covered over by a landslide before he can investigate. He tells his friend Percy about what he saw and Percy becomes convinced there is a monster on the island of Sodor. Percy is spooked. He is jumping at shadows and odd noises in the night. He eventually refuses to do his job pulling the mail train at night. His fear is contagious and makes the other trains nervous too. Of course they do eventually discover just what it was that Thomas saw in the clay pits and it all comes to a happy ending. The message is twofold: First, bravery doesn’t mean not being scared, it means continuing on even when you are scared. Second, and most important for my little one, our imagination can run away with us, spooky noises and shadowy “monsters” usually turn out to be harmless. It’s a cute film. Perfect for any Thomas lover, and particularly perfect for this Halloween-time season.

The other item which has had a positive influence on my girl is a book called A Halloween Scare at My House (written by Eric James and illustrated by Marina Del Ray, from Sourcebooks). This humorous and creative storybook is full of all manner of witches, ghouls and goblins. A young boy hides in his bedroom as his town, and even his own house, fills with monsters all out to celebrate Halloween. The silly ending reveals that to a monster a little human boy is the scariest thing of all. (ie, when it comes to terror, it’s all about perspective). My girls found the book amusing, and it’s made my oldest feel a little less uncomfortable about “the spooky guys” hanging around in every shop we stop at this time of the year.

Do your little ones cackle with glee or cringe in fright when they see happy Halloween decorations? What Halloween books or movies have had a positive impact on your kids?

 

Related Posts

A Good Book Can Light a Fire, It Can Be a Star in an Expanding Universe…
Netflix has CanCon, eh? Exploring Canadiana on Netflix Canada
Tikki Tikki Tembo – Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD

Filed Under: Fun, We Love Books Tagged With: fears, halloween

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maple Leaf Mommy SocialMaple Leaf Mommy on FacebookMaple Leaf Mommy on TwitterMaple Leaf Mommy on PinterestMaple Leaf Mommy on InstagramSubscribe to Maple Leaf Mommy's RSS FeedEmail Maple Leaf MommyImage Map

Welcome

Hi, I'm Deanna, a Canadian mom with two young girls, who loves to share our adventures through the everyday.

    Click here to discover more ABOUT ME.
    Click here to sign up for my LETTERS LIST.

SEARCH THIS SITE

My Current Giveaways

For more open to Canada giveaways check out the Great Canadian Giveaway Link-Up Updates weekly.

Brought to You By…

Moms buy baby clothes on DHgate

Timbuktu Labs

A Few Favourites

* Postpartum Depression in the 1950s

* Life Lessons, Kayaking with the Dolphins

* My Life as a Sandwich

* My Kid Has Special Needs, Maybe, Sorta

* Build Your Own Sushi, for Kids

* Four Secret Rules to Make Perfect Nachos

* Being Difficult, A Birth Story

* Pinterest Perfect Mom
(published in Canadian Family)


Copyright © 2010 - 2023 · Maple Leaf Mommy · All Rights Reserved
Disclosure & Privacy Policy · Contact for Data Inquires

Maple Leaf Mommy on FacebookMaple Leaf Mommy on TwitterMaple Leaf Mommy on PinterestMaple Leaf Mommy on InstagramRSS Feed for Maple Leaf MommyEmail Maple Leaf MommyImage Map