Ok – so we have the perfect Halloween last night. It was in the 60’s and overall clear skies. There were clouds, but they were the thin, wispy ones. You know - the ones that add that eerie cover over the moon that is perfect for Halloween night. Kayla’s desire for candy was stronger than her fear of the people giving it out. In the end she even was walking up to the houses with her Dad and Gramps, rather than needing me to carry her. She went to bed a little later than normal, but fell right to sleep (which is unusual for her).

But that’s where the nice night ended. She ended up with 2 nightmares last night. About 15 minutes after falling asleep she woke up hysterical and it even took a few minutes of hugs to calm her down. Then again, at 11pm, she woke up calling for me. No tears this time, but she was definitely upset. Luckily the rest of the night was peaceful. But I know most of what made her so scared, was all the noisy and scary decorations that she encountered.

Now, Kayla has had a fear of anything life-size and “character-like” for a while. Over the summer, she would not go on the carousel b/c she was afraid of the life-size horses. For a while, we could not put on the Nursery Rhymes episode of Dora. She would be fine up until she saw Humpty Dumpty – he terrified her. She’d scream and cry and cling to me. And of course, she’s afraid of Santa and the Easter Bunny. Well, after giving her breaks and sitting with her through that Dora episode, I had finally gotten her to watch it and think HD was silly.

Well, Halloween ruined that. Kayla waits for Dora each morning. She knows that when Alysa goes for her 1st nap, Dora comes on. So when we take Alysa upstairs, Kayla will be sitting on the couch patiently waiting when we come back down. This morning, the HD episode was on. As soon as she saw Mary’s Little Lamb, she freaked and cried and clung to Jerome. Jerome tried to sooth her, but all she said was “Dora off”. He offered to put on a different episode. Her response? “All done Dora. Watch Diego?” So there you have it. She’s scarred for life. LOL

And to add to this whole new ground of fear – this morning, she woke up dry – which is not that unusual. Well, then she decided she wanted a cookie, so she actually agreed to sit on the potty…and…she pee’d. But…as soon as she started to pee, she got scared, stopped and cried on my shoulder. Huh? Where did that come from? I was not given my chance to do the “Happy PeePee Dance”. I could barely get her to let me clean her up through her tears and her mad dash to escape the bathroom. Then she was scared of the bath faucet when I turned it on to clean the potty. Do you think this will set back potty training even more? She did get her cookie though and I’m hopeful that as the memories of Halloween fade a bit, she’ll be more into the potty with cookies and stickers as her rewards.

I know this fear development is normal for her age. But it’s sad and pathetic. I feel so bad for her. It’s no fun to be scared. But it’s almost amusing as an adult to see the bizarre things they get terrified over. Does that make me a terrible Mommy?

Any suggestions out there to help make this transition a short one?