A new ending can also be written

Children’s fears don’t have to be ghostly!

Children's fears often emerge at inopportune times - like when they (and you) want to go to sleep. First, this is very normal. This site provides several useful suggestions for helping young children cope with their fears. For some children who are old enough and are able to articulate their fears, talking about them, even before bedtime can help. Children may resist ("I don't want to talk about it!") but encouraging them that when they say their fears out loud, the process actually helps get the scary parts out in the open! Once they are able to share what they are scared of, help them talk through a different ending. Frightened a ghost is going to crawl out from under the bed? Ask your child what the ghost looks like, what its name is, where he lives, does he like cheese pizza? Maybe ask him to sit and stay a while. Often as parents we fear that feeding a fear will make it bigger. More often, however, just by acknowledging its presence and getting curious about it, we actually make it smaller. Creating new endings to scary stories with love, validation and reassurance can make those ghosts disappear. 

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