This mom resorts to fear to get her 3-year-old daughter to go to bed, but she has a very good reason for it

I tell my daughter that “the pumpkins are coming” to get her to go to sleep.

Let me explain.

My daughter loves Cinderella, and there’s that line about the stroke of midnight and how her buggy will turn back into a pumpkin. In popular culture, that has been simplified down to “you will turn into a pumpkin” after midnight, replacing the buggy with a person. Then, I somehow turned it into “the pumpkins are coming.”

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This idea is scary as hell, and I don’t know what made me do it. Probably desperation — desperation to have her go to sleep so she isn’t tired in the morning, desperation so I can have my alone time.

At this point, I have told her numerous times that this is not real and Mommy is pretending. But I don’t think she is getting that because she’s only 3. She seems scared, but also seems excited to be scared, like it’s an adventure. I even asked her if she liked being scared. All of this is insane — because she is 3. I am 36 and I am just figuring out my feelings; why do I think she knows what the hell I am talking about?

So, I talked to my therapist, and she recommended that I ask her what she would like to happen to the pumpkins (who are coming) after she goes to bed. It’s about control. People feel less fear when they have control.

So, ask yourself when you are scared of something — what would you like to happen to that fear? It might just work.

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Oh, and this was a huge lesson for me in patience. Why am I rushing her to bed? She can certainly feel this.

If I am more calm, she is more calm, and even if she isn’t, I am. I am the parent and I set the tone.

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